


A Tale of Two Rooks

by Edacity, silentharley



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Aggressive Jacob Seed, Apocalypse, Bath Sex, Bliss (Far Cry), Brainwashing, Captive Marriage, Comfort, Conditioning, Cults, Drug Abuse, Drugged Sex, Dubious Consent, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluffy Faith, Going past the collapse, Injury, Injury Recovery, Kidnapping, Manipulation, Maybe Polyseed, Mental Breakdown, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Murder, Negotiations, Obsessive Behavior, Older Man/Younger Woman, Past Abuse, Polyseed (Far Cry), Protective Seeds, RP Universe, Recovery, Reformed Seeds, Religious Fanaticism, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Sexual Tension, Stockholm Syndrome, Technically Poly, The Mother - Freeform, This is going to be long, Torture, Two OCs - Freeform, Two Rooks, Vaginal Fingering, We change stuff sorry not sorry, We don't ignore Faith, Wedding, Yandere, Yandere John Seed, Yandere Joseph, Yandere Joseph Seed, dubcon, honey moon, mental issues, two authors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2020-09-25 05:49:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 18
Words: 88,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20371720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edacity/pseuds/Edacity, https://archiveofourown.org/users/silentharley/pseuds/silentharley
Summary: Lorena Carter is a woman of peace, having joined Hope County as a deputy as the only way to escape her broken and abusive home. Evelyn Steele is a bit colder, joining as a deputy in Hope County in an attempt to better lives, to save for the fact that she couldn't rescue her own sister's. When the two arrive to arrest Joseph Seed they both find themselves in over their heads as they attempt to rescue Hope County from the Project of religious nut jobs that have taken over. To make matters worse it looks like the Seeds have taken a particular liking to them.





	1. A Month Before The Crash

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a long ride folks strap in! We're staring before the helicopter crash.

**One Month Before The Crash**

* * *

Lorena fumbled putting her phone away in her pocket as she wandered into the police station. It was small but still had a decent amount of people wandering around. She tucked a stray curl behind her ear and wandered in looking for her desk. 

“Sheriff will be in a few, he’s picking up coffee for us,” the dispatch women told her, Lorena quickly saw the name tag that read Nancy and gave her a small nod with a nervous smile. “Relax get set up, meet some of the others.” 

“Thanks,” Rena told her meekly before wandering to the only empty desk in the station. She looked around seeing a few people in the office. One woman with a braid caught her eye and wandered over before turning to the others, “Hey Rook looks like you’re, not the newbie anymore!” 

Evelyn looked up from the paperwork sprawled across her desk, a welcoming gift that had lasted way longer than it should have. Catching the golden-brown hues of the new coworker, she forced a smile which she could only assume had looked friendly from the other woman’s viewpoint. 

Evelyn let out a simple, “Hey.” before she turned her attention to Deputy Hudson. “Does this mean she can take that awful nickname from me?” 

“Well, technically you’re both still rookies.” A man with black hair, sporting the same uniform as the other three, butted in before sitting down on a desk with the nameplate labeled Joey. “Name’s Pratt.” Pratt threw the newbie a haughty smile, leaning forward to rest his arms on his thighs.

“Nice to meet you,” Rena gave them all a small smile before awkwardly laughing, “Yup new blood. I didn’t get to meet you guys last interview,” she stood up and offered her hand to shake to Deputy Hudson cause she was closest, “I’m Lorena Carter.” Her voice had a tiny southern slang to it.

“Nice to meet you kid,” Hudson greeted shaking it firmly before gesturing back to the others to come over, “I’m Joey Hudson, we usually just go by last names here though.” 

Pratt turned to Hudson and asked in a not fully concerned tone, “Where’s the Sheriff at, anyway? Did old age finally catch up to him?”

Like clockwork, an older male entered the room, with a coffee tray in hand. He let out a responsive grunt before saying, “When my retirement rolls around, let’s see how well you kids will function without me.” Under his large mustache, he formed a teasing grin that disappeared as quickly as it came when he noticed the fourth deputy. Whitehorse sputtered, placing down a 4 cup carrier and a box of donuts that he dual-wielded in. “Hell, I didn’t expect you to arrive so early, Rook. Welcome to the team.”

“Was I not supposed to show up on time?” Lorena asked shrinking a bit looking around, unsure if it was an unspoken office rule.

“Everyone but the Sheriff yeah,” Hudson laughed, “We were just greeting the new kid, did you get the chocolate icing this time?” 

The Sheriff huffed a dry chuckle and opened the box of pastries, revealing a wild vary of deep-fried treats. “You got here just in the nick of it. Here, newbies get first pick.” He gestured towards the opened container and raised his brows at her before explaining, “I messed up the order one time and they refuse to let me live it down.” 

“You ordered 12 bland ass donuts.” Staci retorted, craning his head to peek at the inside of the box. “Don’t touch the powdered jelly-filled ones!”

Whitehorse took off his hat and ran a hand over his head sheepishly before placing it back on top. “You know Nancy’s got some kind of allergies, I was just being cautious.” Which they later found out was only to shellfish. He turned back to Lorena, “Anyway’s glad everyone's been introduced and I’m sure you remember this ugly mug from last time. When everyone is fueled up I got work for you, so come see me afterward.” 

Lorena laughed a bit and nodded, “Thank you.” She told him before she took out a glazed doughnut, she figured picking bland would not get on anyone’s bad side. 

“In all honesty, I’m glad this is no longer a sausage fest, for a while it was just me before Evelyn showed,” Hudson revealed before grabbing her coffee and a chocolate doughnut, “What do you want from the lot Steele?” 

Evelyn hummed in response, sitting with downcast eyes as she scanned through a file, with a troubled look, her full attention not on the others. “I’ll take the… uh, anyone that’s left.”

“I got it for you don’t worry,” Joey told her waving a hand, “Have at it, Pratt.” She told him walking away to give Evelyn her morning goodies. Pratt rushed over to snatch the powdered donut, taking a large bite and allowed the sugary residue to fall over his green button-up.

The deputy swiped a hand across his chest, dusting himself off and with his mouth full he questioned, “S’at the Seed’s case file?” 

“Someday you’ll finish it all,” Joey told her patting her back. 

Evelyn gave Joey a weary smile and sat up straight, “Yeah, I took a small break to scan over it.” She raised the papers slightly as if giving them a better view to read the small print. “I don’t understand how you guys don’t have more people looking into this. Is the talk of the town not enough?”

“The Seeds?” Rena asked, “Sorry I just moved in last week. Are they like the town Kooks?” 

Evelyn’s brows raised, a bit glad she wasn’t the only one fully left in the dark about a potentially dangerous cult. The department really needed to learn how to get their shit together. She held out the file, expecting Rena to take a peek. Rena wiped her hands off before looking the file over eyes growing wide before narrowing at the information before her.

“More like the town zealots,” Hudson said, shaking her head, “They run a cult.” 

“Oh,” Rena said paling, that wasn’t really in the job description. 

“It’s hard to miss the creepy propaganda driving through Hope County. Don’t really know what the fuck is going on with that.” Pratt crossed his arms over his torso and stood up straight. His face lit up suddenly, “Wanna see if Sheriff will let us show you rookies around? I can say something about teaching you the ropes of patrolling.”

“I just thought they were some sort of religious performing group,” Lorena told him honestly before smiling at the idea of getting a tour. “Sure! It sounds like it would be fun.”

Throwing a worried glance at her new coworker, Evelyn sighed tiredly. Fun was the least of what she was expecting a trip with Staci would be. She didn’t hate the guy and had only met him two months ago, she just thought he could be sort of a presumptuous twat at times. He also hadn’t left the best first impression, one of the things he stated being, “_ I became a deputy to get laid _.” had her eyes nearly rolling out of her head. 

“See if he’ll let them first Pratt,” Hudson warned, “Sheriff wanted to brief both of them at some point today.” 

Pratt scoffed then turned to Rena and winked, “You can tell which one of us is the fun one.” Staci picked up his now cold coffee and finished it off before speaking again. “He did say he has something for them before leaving. I guess you two shouldn’t keep him waiting.” Rena blinked at Pratt before nodding, trying to ignore the flirtatious vibes she was getting from him.

“Ready?” She asked Eveyln not wanting to seem too eager to start actually working. Evelyn hummed in response and with an absent vigor, picked herself up from her seat. She politely took back the file from the woman’s hand and haphazardly tossed it onto her desk.

“Let’s roll.” She held the door open for her, watching as Hudson gave Pratt a shove for already trying to get in the new kids' pants so early. If she hadn’t walked into the Sheriff’s office she would have heard Husdon threaten to tell her his first name. Immediately upon entering, the sheriff’s heated voice rang clearly in his office.

“Look I don’t care what the bureau is saying, I’m telling you it’s a bad idea, coming down here and sticking your nose where it doesn't belong.” Whitehorse glanced up at the two rooks and pointed a single digit to the ceiling. Evelyn’s eyes quickly darted to the side, eyeing her coworker that stood next to her, she took the time to observe her features, She seemed young, maybe around the same age as her and had an ingenious aspect to her. Rena listened mainly to the sheriff not yet use to his angrier tone. She spares a glance at Evelyn as well as admiring her hair before her attention was brought back to the Sheriff. Whitehorse slammed the phone down, a little harder then he had intended. He muttered evidently flustered, “Sorry about that, got some things going on with the head honcho.” The sheriff cleared his throat and waved away the apprehensive feeling. “Anyway, How are you kids setting in so far?” 

“He sounds like a jerk,” Lorena spoke without thinking, “I think it’s been nice so far, outside of learning about the town cult.” Evelyn gave Rena an amused look, holding back a smile. Turning back to the sheriff, Evelyn simply shrugged.

Whitehorse shifted in his seat, “Yeah..” The Sheriff rubbed his chin in deep thought, “The Seeds, all sorts of rumors going around ‘bout that family. But so far that's all they are, rumors. But I’ve got a mission for the two of you. Want you to go downtown, get yourself familiar with the area, maybe meet some of the folks ‘round here. Good people, I assure you. You’ll find the keys to the cars hanging up by Nancy. Might need to fill up on gas, you can blame the two knuckleheads out there for that one.” The phone on his desk let out a shrill ring before he waved them off and hastily picked up the phone. 

Rena left with Evelyn grabbing the keys, “Gas first then we just explore? We...don’t have to bring Pratt if you don’t want.” She told her having noticed her reaction to his idea before.

“Probably for the best. I’ll drive?” Evelyn followed behind Rena, waving Nancy a quick goodbye before heading out the door. 

“Great! I’ll go get my aux cord.” She told her before rushing to her desk to leaf through her bag.

****

Rena and Evelyn had only been at the gas station a few minutes before another car rolled up beside them. Lorena had one headphone in but the horrible sounding Christian music was enough to pull her out of her zoning out as they waited for the pump to fill their patrol car up. She looked over at the car surprised to see what looked like two hipsters, and a metrosexual in the car together. On the other side of the car, Evelyn leaned against the door, pulling out the nozzle when the numbers on the screen came to a stop. She turned and knocked her knuckles on the glass to grab her coworkers' attention.

“Hey Rena, I’m going to grab a bottle of water, do you want an-” Her words were immediately caught in her throat as she looked passed Rena to see what had her attention, face creasing. The woman was the first one out of the car, bare feet first, excitedly chipper when noticing the two of them refueling. Her head turned towards the man wearing yellow-tinted aviators, before returning her gaze to Rena and giving her a small wave, followed by a, “Hello.” her voice curious and like saccharine honey. Rena waved back at the girl in the white dress, shrinking a bit as the other men’s attentions were brought over as well.

“We haven’t seen you around officers,” The well-dressed man claimed before hopping out of their car as well. The man with the glasses and hair tied up opened the passenger door and ran his hands over the wrinkles in his crisp white shirt, he smiled, a friendly gesture before following close to the other male, the girl in the white dress trailed closely behind. Evelyn opened her side of the door, eyes glued to the people approaching.

“We were just passing through.” Rena rolled down her window and leaned out to look them over as they walked to the side of the pump, unlike Evelyn she didn’t seem on edge at all.

“It’s good to see new faces.” The man with the bun pressed a hand lightly to his chest, “My name is Joseph, this is my brother, John.” He tilted his head slowly making a gesture to the other male, then splaying his hand towards the brunette with shoulder-length hair. “...and sister, Faith.” He paused, allowing time for the two deputies to introduced themselves. 

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Rena said remembering the names from the file giving Evelyn a small glance to her partner understanding her tension now. “I’m Deputy Carter, this is Deputy Steele.” She said deciding it was best to stick with last names, to keep some distance. Evelyn shook her head lightly, clenching her jaw and flinching slightly when hearing her last name slip out of Rena’s lips. 

He let out a pleased hum, “Ah, that’s wonderful.” Joseph's eyes flicker to Evelyn and then to Rena where he held an intense gaze for what seemed like hours. Rena blinked at first before flushing slightly, eyes darting to look elsewhere to keep her anxiety down. Noticing her discomfort, he threw her an assuring smile, which most likely did all but assure her. 

“G-good weather today,” She said, trying to fill the silence, give him some sort of reason to actually stare at her for. Joseph hummed in acknowledgment, listening as the deputy did her best to fill the silence. 

“You have to let us welcome you into town,” John said, leaning against the car clearly very comfortable being near Evelyn despite everything, “We can pick up your tab, as a sort of gift from the community, for the protection you give us hm?” 

Irritated, she shook her head and gave him a troubled frown. “No, we just ate.” If her eyebrows furrowed anymore they’d be practically touching. Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest defensively. 

“Your gas then,” John insisted walking a bit closer to Evelyn, he never liked it when people told him no. But it did always seem to peek his interests anyway, nothing wrong with a little challenge every now and again, especially if it was a pretty one. “I insist.” 

Seriously, who the hell did this guy think he was? Evelyn bit her tongue, frustrated and not willing to allow this pompous rich boy to beguile her, she forced an imitated smile, quickly coming up with a white lie. “Our patrol cars gas and maintenance are paid by our job. So no need.” She took a few steps back, bothered by his sudden closeness, and swiped her card quickly into the reader. Through her teeth, she hissed a sarcastic “Thanks.”

“How kind of them,” John laughed, it sounded forced, but he laughed all the same, “Next time then we’ll have to find something _I_ can treat you to.” 

“Can't wait.” Evelyn turned her gaze over to Rena to see how she was holding up and quickly noticed her perturbed tone. She decided it was probably time to go. 

Lorena blinked seeing Faith’s bare feet before looking back up at her, “Do you need shoes? I think I might have packed some flip-flops or something.” 

Faith leaned her head to the side, letting out a light laugh that didn’t match her eyes, golden brown locks draping one side of her face. “That’s very kind of you, but I’m quite alright.” 

“Just, be careful, there’s a lot of gross chemical stuff on the ground here,” Lorena warned noticing the blankness behind her words.

“We have somewhere else to be. Duty calls.” Evelyn stated bluntly. 

Rena nodded looking back at Evelyn, “Yes, very important patrol, can’t be missed.” 

“Where are you headed then?” John questioned, mostly curious to see how well the naive Deputy could lie.

“That’s confidential.” Lorena said without missing a beat keeping a pleasant smile on her face, “Police business I hope you all understand.” Evelyn opened her side of the car door and quickly ushered herself in throwing the keys into the ignition.

Joseph’s eyes softened and he let a delighted sigh, “Of course. And, If you ever get the time, you should consider stopping by the church we have down the road. We would love to see you there.” Although meant for both deputies his eyes never lingered away from the young woman with tan skin.

“It’s enlightening.” Faith cut in, her eyes twinkling with slight playful mischief. “You’d love it.”

“I’ve never really been one for churches,” Lorena told them honestly not wanting to get their hopes up. “I’m sure it's lovely though,” She said looking between the two of them. “Thank you for the invitation.” 

“Ah, of course. Well, I hope we bump into each other again, Deputy Carter and Deputy Steele.” Joseph nodded towards Faith and John, who immediately stepped away from the car. 

“It was nice to meet you all,” Lorena told them half honestly, they didn’t seem as suspicious in the light of day. Once they were a bit of a distance away from them Lorena let out a much-needed sigh, “They stared...a lot.” She decided to say first, “And were really friendly.” 

“Too friendly.” Something about them set off all sorts of red flags and made Evelyn very on edge, she gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. “Are you hungry? We should grab something to eat.” 

“Yeah sure,” Lorena said nodding placing one headphone back in her ear as she watched the rearview mirror carefully, making sure they weren’t followed.

***

A week had passed by, and Lorena and Evelyn were still frequently partners on patrol. They decided to stop to eat lunch at the Spread Eagle again and were about to enjoy their meal. That’s when Lorena started to blurt out.

“So um..the tattoo on your neck? Does it have a meaning to you?” She asked looking at her knowing the small birds that laid on the back of her neck. “I mean, I know a lot of people get tattoos just cause their pretty or cool, and you probably get asked this like all the time. But I just...was curious. I don’t know too much about you Evelyn which is okay if you don’t want to share. I-I get it I’m not really an open book either…” Rena felt like she was rambling again.

She raised a single eyebrow at her directness and with a mouth full of burger, she chewed slowly. Hanging onto the thought for a few minutes before swallowing, “It’s just a family thing.” Evelyn stayed silent for a bit and looked down at her food, no longer touching it. She placed an elbow on the counter and turned to her fellow deputy, “Do you have any tattoos?” she asked quickly, leaving no room for the other woman to debate on asking further. 

"Ah..no," Lorena said feeling nervous she ruined her meal placing her own wrap down. "I do have scars though, also a family thing." She said quick enough before rambling on, "I've wanted to cover with them. Just didn't have an idea as to what to cover it with." 

Evelyn nodded reassuringly and started to pick at her fries. Knowing not to pry, she looked up thoughtfully before asking, "Well, what do you like?" 

“Well...music,” Lorena started with unsure if she explains exactly why yet to her partner fearful of scaring her off. “Gemstones, Candles, coffee….books.” She ended with not sure what else she should list. 

Evelyn leaned her chin against her hand, her eyes falling quickly to see if she could catch a glimpse of Rena's scars. She shrugged, "Maybe get something like that. Not my place, but you shouldn't be ashamed of your scars. I think it makes you who you are, showing the things you were able to overcome and survive through. The way I look at it is, every scar is an experience that's part of your past and you shouldn't feel compelled to live in the past… but you shouldn't be compelled to pretend the past didn't happen." She looked off into the distant, seemingly no longer talking directly toward her coworker. "Sorry I went on a bit of a tangent." She gave her a slightly sheepish smile, before turning back to her burger.

"No...it's okay I really appreciate it. It's a nice way of looking at it." Lorena paused for a moment clearly hesitating again. "Evelyn can...I trust you with something?"

"Uh, yeah of course." Evelyn began to worry.

"You can't tell anyone at the station," Rena said softer, "I..the Sheriff knows some of it but other than that no one.” After her partner nodded she continued, “I...have these ticks...triggers," Rena told her, "Dogs barking, certain types of laughter...the slurring of words. They all make me react in ways that stop me from being rational at times. If the others knew there's a chance I might have to transfer ...again. I want to stay here I like working with everyone, and you."

Aggravation slowly took over her expression. "What? Rena… You can get yourself hurt. This line of work isn't necessarily suited for stuff like this." She shook her head in obvious disbelief. "It's absolutely reckless."

“I can work through it,” Lorena immediately argued, “and I-I don’t really have many other career choices lined up, it was this or the army, and the army rejected me. I can’t go back home or support myself any other way. Besides I’m used to getting hurt Lyn, at least this way I’m helping people.” 

She stared at her for a long moment before speaking, "Alright… but if something happens to you, I can't let you do this to yourself." She let out a soft sigh and asked rhetorically, "What kind of person would I be?" 

“Thank you,” Rena said giving her a quick side hug, “I promise not to be a burden.”

***

A two weeks later Lorena and Evelyn were on patrol again, when Nancy’s voice came out through their radio. 

“Rooks, we have reports of some trouble around the river, what’s your location?” She asked while Rena reached for the com.

“Falls end, what’s going on Nancy?” The younger rookie asked. Evelyn looked over at Rena from behind the wheel expectantly.

“We’ve got reports of some Pegs trying to drown some people near you head to…” Nancy gave them directions and they were on their way over. When they pulled in they saw a crowd gathered around the banks of the river. Some murmuring praise, while someone’s head was held under the water.

“What the hell,” Rena said quickly getting out of the car to stop the commotion. 

Almost instantly, the crowd's attention was shifted to the two of them. A man knee-deep in the water, lifted a young female up who gasped for air, her white shirt with an odd-shaped cross on the front of it, drenched. Evelyn trudged after her eager coworker, lips in a tight grimace. Once getting close to the action, she spoke up loudly, enough for the one in the lake to hear her, "What's going on here?" 

The man in the water spoke first, "This is a private ceremony. You shouldn't be here." His face scrunched up, obviously irritated, even the woman who had been nearly choking, regarded them with angered dismay. 

“If you explain this ceremony to us, and why it involves drowning someone, we can be on our way,” Lorena said not backing down.

Someone from the crowd spoke out, a heavily built man with an overgrown beard, which lacked maintenance. "That ain't nun of your business, little missy." He took an intimidating step closer to the curly-haired deputy. "We know our rights."

“So you know you have the right not to drown someone then?” Lorena questioned staring back up at him not backing down. “With or without permission.” 

"We are only asking because we got a complaint that something potentially harmful was going on down here. We only wanted to clarify." Evelyn stepped in, ready to jump to Rena's defense. 

“So either explain it or cease and desist,” Rena said only looking back to nod to Evelyn. 

The tension in the air was thick, only breaking when another truck pulled up with the same bizarre cross on its side. 

“What seems to be the problem officers?” John asked as he stepped out of the vehicle followed soon after by the siblings they met before. This time with a tall rugged-looking man decked in camo wearing dog tags around his neck.

Joseph took the lead, practically beaming. "Deputy Carter, Deputy Steele. Have you come to observe the baptism of our new members? We wouldn't mind your audience." He stated, answering their previous question. 

From behind him, Faith's friendly smile shone. She skipped her way over to Lorena and took her hands into her own. "Please say you'll stay for just a little bit."

The crowd of people settled, straightening up and spoke a gentle, "Goodmorning, Father." to Joseph. Their moods now relaxed and anger sated. 

Lorena softened immediately at the sight of Faith, clearly flustered at the affection, though she didn’t pull away from her grasp.“We’re...only here because we were told someone was drowning someone,” she tried to explain before looking over at Joseph concerned, “This is a bit extreme for a baptism Father.” 

Hearing his title escape from her lips, Joseph sighed contently, "Some of our followers that suffer from guilt, request that they are cleansed for a bit longer. I assure you no one is harmed during this process. Perhaps you should stay and observe yourselves." He placed a hand on Rena's shoulder gently pressing her closer to where the others stood by.

John walked over closer to Evelyn, “The looks of joy on their faces is worth it alone, come watch.” He told her motioning her towards the others.

The corners of Evelyn's lips sank and she shook her head objectively, not buying into any of it. She whispered harshly (Nearly mouthing the words) to her fellow deputy. "_What are you doing Rena_?"

Rena’s eyes widened and she shook her head, conveying that not even she knew. She halted herself, “Surely it’ll be fine if I watch from here...w-we can’t stay long anyway. If everything is alright we have to go back to Patrol.” 

“I promise you it will take only but a minute.” Joseph tilted his head in the direction he wanted her to go. He hand moved down to the small of her back, not forcing her but leading her gradually and cautiously as if she was a frightened animal. 

“I’m on the job, I really can’t, I’m sorry,” Lorena told them trying to be firm.

“The views better when your closer,” Jacob agreed whistling, cueing a wolf to come off the back of the pickup truck causing Lorena to freeze in her place, skin paling. “Don’t worry, he won’t bite,” He told them giving the two deputies a smirk. 

“This is our brother Jacob,” John told them smiling still, “He trains them very well, there’s no need to worry. It's part of our conservation project.” 

Evelyn met the gaze of the towering redhead, moving down to where a white four-legged creature obediently made its way over and stood proudly beside him. Shit, she thought back to a couple of weeks ago at The Spread Eagle and began to rush to Rena’s side. Before she could even open her mouth to comfort her, light brunette hair waved in front of her, taking her place. Rena broke one hand free desperately trying to dig in her pockets for her iPod, but before she could the wolf let out a bark, as if agreeing with him. Rena’s hands stopped moving and her body grew cold as she started to shake keeping her head down. Faith moved swiftly passed Evelyn, who shot her a look of disbelief. Noticing Rena’s instant reaction. She brought her hands up and cupped Lorena’s face.

“Deputy, close your eyes and take slow breaths for me. You are safe. I promise.” 

Lorena’s eyes widened feeling her heart began to race as she listened to her, mind not letting her think rationally anymore, “W-wolf..” was all she could get out leaning into Faith’s touch.

Joseph promptly turned towards his brother, “Jacob, I believe the wolf is startling our _ dear _ Deputy, can you please send him away for a moment?” 

Jacob huffed, eyeing the deputy by his sister up and down before whistling again signaling for the wolf to leave and go back home without them. “Normally people eat that shit up,” He grumbled crossing his arms standing next to Evelyn as if telling her a small joke. Which she had either not heard or chosen to ignore. Jacob sighed scratching his beard before watching what was unfolding.

Faith let go of one side of her face to slip her hand into the pocket that the rook had been fumbling with and pulled out her music player. “I’m going to turn this on for you, alright?” Faith quickly untangled the earphones and places them in the deputy’s ears and pressed the first song that came up.

Lorena let out a soft sigh as Lady Gaga filled her ears, she felt her heartbeat return to normal and she opened her eyes slowly feeling calm again flushing again as she realized where she had just had her meltdown, “I-I’m sorry.” She blurted out before she could even think.

“Don’t be, we all have our weaknesses. Are you alright?” Joseph looked down at her with genuine concern, surprised she hadn’t recoiled away from how close he and Faith stood next to her. Around them, his followers watched, some with envy, but not daring to interrupt the exchange between their Father. 

“I-I’m fine,” Rena said taking in a few more deep breaths trying not to notice the eyes on her. “Thank you for your concern and help.” She told them looking between the two of them giving a small nervous smile.

“It’s no problem, We are sorry for startling you.” Faith quickly responded, giving her a comforting grin before taking one step back.

“It’s not your fault,” Lorena told her shaking her head and rubbing her arms.

John watched them from a distance before turning to Evelyn, “Awfully skittish for a police officer.” He commented nodding towards her.

Evelyn shot him an annoyed glance, “I believe you should keep your thoughts to yourself, Seed.” she stated calmly. 

Jacob let out a chuckle at that smiling, “I like her.” He decided out loud to tease his brother further. John only let out a small scoff crossing his arms looking away not wanting to show the embarrassment on his face.

She moved hastily away from them and making her way closer towards Joseph, Faith, and Rena, a small worried look in her eyes. “Perhaps, we should take our leave now, Rena?”

Lorena looked back at Evelyn nodding feeling a bit embarrassed for what just happened, “Yeah, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to worry you.” She told her stepping away from the Seeds. “Need to just leave them in.” She whispered scolding herself.

“Don’t sweat it.” Evelyn placed her hand on her coworker's shoulder and turned to the Seeds, an unreadable look plastered across her face. “We apologize for the misunderstanding. Have a lovely rest of your day.” 

“Goodbye,” Rena told them giving a tired wave before they rushed to the car noticing in the rearview window how the Seed Family watched them as they left.


	2. The Arrest and the Crash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Just another thank you for reading. This chapter is a tiny bit word for word in some scenes, but we did our best to keep it a little spiced up! Hope you guys have a good weekend!

Rena looked up from her desk watching as the Marshall barged into their office warrant in hand. She made a small face as he held up a paper looking incredibly smug, it was far too late into the night for him to have this much energy. 

“Where’s the Sheriff? I’ve got the papers to bring this bastard down, legally as he requested.” Burke slammed the single sheet of paper on Nancy’s desk, making her jump suddenly. The woman then pulled out a pair of glasses from the drawer before placing them on and scanning the page briefly. 

“Oh shit, you actually got it!” Deputy Hudson cheered as she walked over to look at it. 

“No kidding?” Pratt perked up from behind the screen of a computer with a raised eyebrow. “Whitehorse is in his office.” He pointed a thumb behind him at a closed-door, before shouting. “Sheriff, Burkes back and he says he’s got the papers this time.” 

Lorena got up and walked over to Evelyn’s desk not liking the sound of this, sharing a look with her partner. 

Evelyn shook her head sharing Lorena’s concerns, “Can’t be good.”

Whitehorse grumbled, swinging open his office door and making his way towards Burke. “Now Marshall, I’ve done told you-”

Without hesitation, the FBI Marshall cut him off, “Look, Sheriff, It’s all here, signed and dated. I swear. We can finally do it. We can take down this goddamn freakshow.” 

“Marshall, you’re not looking at the full picture here, the Seeds and the peggies...We had our run-ins with them before, they aren’t just going to le-” 

“You’re going against federal orders, Sheriff?” The Marshall stated bluntly, lifting up the paper once again to make a point. “We are doing this now.” 

“Now as in right now? On a Sunday?” Lorena asked crossing her arms, wondering how this man had been promoted to his level.

“Rook,” Deputy Hudson called trying to get her to stay out of trouble with Burke.

“No, this is idiotic we can’t just march in when he’ll be surrounded by his followers, they’ll riot,” Lorena told him shaking her head standing to show how much she disliked it, though it didn’t do much considering how short she was for her position.

“And is there a reason we are doing this at 2 am when we are all getting off work, and not tomorrow morning?” Staci butted in with a tired expression rubbing his face.

“Then you’ll handle it, it’s not that hard, you’re a goddamn officer, you’ve got guns and a coffee maker,” Burke shook his head at the small female. “It’ll be better getting this over with now. I’ll be waiting outside. “Get your deputies in line Whitehorse.” The Marshall hissed, before heading out the front door.

“How charming.” Evelyn quickly expressed, folding her arms over her chest.

Whitehorse sighed and grabbed his hat that was placed on the coat rack. “You heard him. Get what you need together and let's head out. I’ll explain the plan when we’re moving.” 

“I’ll...go prep the chopper then,” Hudson said shaking her head moving outside.

“What an asshole,” Lorena told Evelyn shaking her head wondering what this man was forcing them into. 

***

“-and I want both of you rooks on me, at all times. You hear me? No messing around and keep your guns holstered. Carter, I want you to put the handcuffs on Joseph Seed when we get there. Got it?” The sheriff shouted over the whirling of the blades of the helicopter before, taking a step in. 

Rena questioned that thought process immediately, eyes widening, but for once she bit her tongue and kept it to herself. “Yes, Sir.” She told him not wanting to embarrass him in front of Burke anymore.

Evelyn followed, an uneasy feeling bubbling up in her stomach. She had an unmistakable feeling that things weren’t going to go as planned tonight, and she prayed that feeling was wrong.

Pratt flipped a couple of switches and turned around in his seat to check to see if everyone was in and strapped. “We ready?”

“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Hudson said, “Don’t worry, you two will do fine, just stay close to me and the Sheriff.” 

Rena swallowed her tension and nodded as the Helicopter ascended up, she pulled her headphones out placing them in her ear to play music, fearful of the wolves being near in the compound.

Evelyn looked down at her phone, figuring now was the time to look at the video Pratt had to insist they watch earlier. She cringed, quickly turning it off after the man stopped screaming and fell to his side. She had been right to assume this man, Joseph Seed, was batshit crazy, didn’t make her feel any better having only one FBI Marshall with them, especially seeing the guns they had been equipped with. She glanced over at Lorena who had been turned away, looking out the other side of the helicopter. She decided not to bring up the clip, in hopes she didn’t watch it herself, seeing that she was the one that had to put the cuffs on the madman. 

“There it is.” Pratt scoffed. “Looks bigger up close, huh?” 

“Jesus, why is it so huge?” Hudson grumbled, “We should have gotten him for not having a permit for that thing.” The statue was, in fact, huge, Evelyn questioned how long it took them to make it and why nobody had actually questioned it in the first place. 

When they landed it was time to start the walk to the church, as they passed she could see the angry looks the peggies were throwing their way. The uneasiness of the situation rising again in Lorena’s chest. She hurried her pace, so she was right next to Evelyn unsure if her partner was as nervous as she was.

Evelyn cast a side glance towards Rena. While still looking straight ahead she spoke, “Don’t worry, Me, Joey, and Whitehorse are here to back you up if things go downhill. You got this.” She made sure not to say, Burke, he didn’t look like the helping type. 

“Thanks, Lynn,” Rena told her giving a nod, “We’re just...surrounded. And I just...there’s this sense of dread building up in my stomach about this. What if we make it worse?” Evelyn stayed silent for a moment thinking, Rena wasn’t wrong, she could feel it too, the feeling that something is going to go wrong. She shrugged it off, putting on a tough face, for herself and Rena. 

“We’ll work through it. Sometimes, It’s gotta get worse to get better… right?” At least that's what she remembers the saying being. 

“Yeah, something like that,” Lorena told her nodding trying to force herself to be positive. Once they reached the door, Whitehorse put up his hand to stop the four of them.

“Now we do this my way, no guns. The people here are a bit… on edge. Carter, Steele, keep on me. Hudson, watch the door. Make sure none of these guys get in.” The Sheriff turned to Burke, “and you…. Just try not to do anything stupid.” 

The Marshall placed both hands on his shoulders. “Relax Sheriff. You’re gonna get your name in the paper.” 

“You really think that’s what he cares about?” Lorena asked feeling dumbfounded by the Marshall.

Whitehorse shook his head at her, a small gesture telling her it was best to leave it alone. Stepping forward he pushed open the door, looking back at Steele and Carter before heading inside with a slow and easy pace.

“Something is coming… You can feel it, can’t you? We’re creeping towards the edge. And there will be a reckoning…” Lorena walked in, feeling glad now that she had denied their offer to join one of their services. The lighting was dark everywhere but around Joseph, clearly demanding to be the center of the room. Then there were the stares, of the people watching them, how angry they got that they were disrupting his speech. She pulled a headphone out of her ear hearing the tone that Joseph was using to his people.

“That is why we started the project because we know what happens next. They will come. They will try to take from us, take our guns, take our freedom… our faith...We will not let them,” Joseph’s voice grew louder.

“Sheriff!” Burke spat. 

To which the sheriff quickly replied, “Leave it alone, Marshall.”

Joseph's voice grew to a shout, “We will not let their _ greed _ or their _ immorality _ , or their _ depravity _ hurts us anymore. There will be no more suffering.” Lorena felt her panic reach its peek as Burke only continued to fan the flames.

“Oh fuck this, Joseph Seed, I have a warrant issued for your arrest on the suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to harm. Now I want you to step forward and keep your hands where I can see them.” Evelyn flinched, this guy was an idiot. Lorena felt her tension rising sharing another look with Lyn before pulling out her cuffs and sparing a glance at Faith’s calm form in the corner.

From the crowd behind them, people began to mutter. “You go back to where you came from!” “There they are. The locusts in our garden. See they come for me.” Joseph looked around at the people standing by the pews, his arms outstretched. “They come to take me away from you. They come to destroy all that we’ve built!” The peggies began to swarm around them, gripping their guns with hostility and spouting angry words. Burke grabbed for his gun.

“Hold on, don’t touch that service weapon!” Whitehorse shot out a hand towards the Marshall, worry laced in his tone. “Stand down!” The sheriff raised his voice over the others, trying his best to calm the storm.

“Stop it!” Rena shouted with the Sheriff unable to keep silent anymore. This only seemed to rile up the crowd further. It was only when Joseph stepped down from his platform did they simmer. 

“We knew this moment would come. We’ve prepared for it, go. God will not let them take me.” Joseph raised his arms to the ceiling and the crowd around them began to disperse. Lorena watched feeling confused as Joseph continued his speech, looking down to stare directly at her. “I saw when the _ lamb _ opened the first seal and I heard as it was the noise of thunder, one of the four beast saying, come and see!” 

“Step forward!” Burke spat.

“And I saw…” Joseph spat back then turned to the sheriff, “..and behold it was a Whitehorse..” Bringing both hands up, as if expecting Lorena to take them into her own, she only flinched slightly in reaction. “...and hell followed with him.” 

The Marshall turned to Rena expectantly. “Rookie, Cuff this son-of-a-bitch.” 

“God will not let you take me.” Evelyn turned to Rena, her brow creased, silently giving her a look that said, “_ you got this _.” Before turning her attention back to the four silhouettes that stood amongst them. 

Lorena hesitated for a moment, the seed of dread in her stomach was slowly blossoming into a strong feeling of nausea as she opened the cuffs and approached him. Never being one for force she placed them on him carefully, not listening to Burke’s complaints as she took her time, he clearly wasn’t trying to make an escape, and that made her dread bloom even more.

With a gentle smile, The Father, held his hands out towards her, an offering. He tilted his head, giving the deputy a curious gaze as if waiting for her to make an alternative decision. From his side, with her hands held behind her back, Faith smiled at Rena, which had been odd under the current circumstances. Neither of them seemed worried as if they knew how this event would unfold. Rena shook her head trying to ignore the chills running up her spine as she finally closed the cuffs around Joseph's wrists. 

“You should tell them to calm down,” Rena advised him with a frown on her face before stepping behind him to guide him out, “Your people could get hurt.” Joseph looked over his shoulder and parted his lips, but before he could respond, The Marshall had reared his head around rapidly to throw daggers towards Rena and him. 

“Hey, Rook! Don’t engage with that fuckin’ psychopath.” Joseph’s mouth formed into a thin straight line, his eyes casting a dark, ominous shadow. Evelyn grimace, her brows tightly knit. This man was so unprofessional. Evelyn held onto her tongue, It wasn’t worth it. As soon as they get out of here, the less she’ll see of the Marshall and Joseph Seed. She took one last look behind her at the three siblings and casually shook off an anxious shiver that began to form, before turning back towards the exit. 

"Such a prick," Lorena muttered mostly to herself before guiding Joseph out the doors and to the helicopter.

Sheriff Whitehorse threw open the double doors, which revealed a very riled up and upset crowd, to which had been no surprise. “Stick close Carter, Steele.. and head back to the chopper.” Joseph took slow methodical steps forward if they didn’t know better, he appeared to be pleased with his follower's reaction. 

Lorena looked around them half tempted to push him to move faster, "This is pure chaos!" She shouted to Evelyn as they boarded on to the copter hearing a gunshot behind her. Her anger increased as she realized Burke was shooting at the peggies that were trying to claw their way in.

"The hell, Marshall?!" Evelyn looked wide-eyed at him then to the sheriff who had been equally as shocked. She didn't expect anyone to die. 

"Shut him up!" The Marshall turned and continued to fight off another hanging follower. Whitehorse shouted angrily over the humming. Who was singing amongst all this chaos? Evelyn turned and met the gaze of Joseph, whose eyes shut in silent prayer and the tune of a familiar song echoed out from his throat. 

"You're going to let them die for you?!" Rena shouted at Joseph over the roaring of the helicopter blades. One after one peggies threw themselves at the helicopter holding onto it as it took off. Didn't they know they weren't going to survive a fall from this high? Were they that crazy to sacrifice themselves for this man?

"Jesus Christ!" Hudson said watching as they crawled. "Everyone brace yourselves!" She earned. The helicopter stutter and red covered the windshield. 

"F-fuck, we're going down!" Pratt exclaimed.

The impact hit them hard Lorena clutching on to her seat for dear life, "Shit, shit shit shit…" she muttered to herself. Evelyn clutched onto her seat belt harnesses, squeezing her eyes shut. This was it. This was going to be how she died. 

  


When Lorena opened her eyes she sprung forward gasping for air looking around. She searched the bodies surrounding her relieved to see them all still breathing adrenaline pumping through her system as she saw the headset close to them. Nancy's voice shouting out to them desperate to know what was going on. 

"Lyn!" Rena whisper shouted trying to wake her partner. A small pained moan escaped from Evelyn's lips, letting Rena know she was alive, but not ready to open her eyes. “Thank god,” Rena said before slowly reaching for the headset, “Nancy! Nancy, we need back up!” She whispered as loudly as she could while she tried to grab it, not thinking to unbuckle herself first in the panic.

"Amazing… Grace… How sweet… the sound." Familiar slow footsteps approached Rena's side of the helicopter. Rena strained herself feeling her arms stretch as her fingers just grazed the headphones before being yanked away. Joseph's hand held her wrist tight as he tilted his head, giving her a look one might give a disobedient child. "That saved…. A wretch… like me." 

Rena’s eyes narrowed trying to move still, “Let me go.” She told him once in a warning. He instead brought his hands up to both sides of her face, holding her cheeks with a small force.

"I told you, God wouldn't let you take me." 

“Because you sacrificed others for your own freedom,” She told him not hesitating to call him out on his bullshit. Her hands moved to her seat belt trying desperately to unclip herself to get a better chance of defending herself. Joseph slid his hand down to hers, halting her and tightly squeezed her wrist. A warning. 

"You don't understand our purpose, _ your _ purpose. I can help you understand, lamb." 

“I don’t want it if it means hurting people,” she told him looking down at her wrist half tempted to keep going, not sure what would be worse. Behind him, the frantic voice of a woman resonated from inside a pair of headphones. Joseph reached for it, never taking his eyes off the deputy. 

"Dispatch?" 

From what Rena could make out, it sounded like, "Thank god." and Joseph smiled softly.

"Everything's fine here, no need to call anyone.." Joseph responded.

"Yes Father, praise be to you.." Nancy retorted. 

“Fuck,” Lorena could help but blurt out moving to free herself again. Joseph dropped the headphones and leaned so close to Rena that she could smell the blood on his face. 

"Only I... can save you, Lorena." Lorena’s eyes grew wider at that shaking her head. Lights from a car shone on them as it drove to a halt. Joseph let go of her he began to climb out to greet his followers that seem very ecstatic that their leader had survived the crash. Evelyn strained open her eyes, grunting and looking around at the situation. She flinched and lightly pressed her fingers to a head wound caused by their fall.

"What..."

Lorena was already fumbling with her seatbelt getting it off with her knife while the others were distracted, “We need to move, now.” Pratt grunted fumbling with his seatbelt, but as soon as he got loose a peggie grabbed and yanked out. Rena wasted no time as soon as she got out moving to release Evelyn, “Stay still,” She told her before cutting her out. She was about to move to do the same to Hudson when the Peggies grabbed her.

“Let me go!” Joey shouted.

"Thanks." Evelyn watched Whitehorse and Pratt get dragged out next and before she could turn to help the Marshall, he was already running the other direction and the aircraft was soon engulfed in flames. "We gotta get out of here before it explodes," Evelyn shouted.

“Right behind you,” Lorena told her racing alongside her partner.

***

Everything happened in a flash. Meeting up with Burke, the car chase, the bridge explosion, and then darkness again. It all seemed so unreal, like something out of a movie. Evelyn grunted and started to move but realized that she couldn't and that she had been zipped tied to a bed frame right next to Lorena. A bald man with one earring in his ear was listening to the radio, Peggie rhetoric playing over, calling for the search of both of the Deputies. Listening to their struggling he stopped the radio. 

“Found you both by the river,” Dutch told them turning around, “After the shit that Marshel pulled I wasn’t sure whether or not you two were smart enough to be left alone in my bunker.” 

“Burke’s an ass,” Lorena told him immediately.

“Well then, I reckon I can untie you both. As long as you promise to help fix this fucking mess.” The man told them grabbing his knife.

"Our friends were taken," Evelyn started quickly, ", and we are up against an army. Shouldn't we call for backup?" She allowed the man to cut them both out, rubbing her wrists before standing then reaching a hand down to offer Rena up.

"The peggies drowned out the airways and blocked the roads, and yeah there's an army of those sick fucks waiting out there grabbing whoever they can to convert," Dutch said walking over and cutting Evelyn out first.

"Jesus," Lorena breathed out shaking her head. "We'll help then, knock them out tie them up. There's the jailhouse…"

"That's in Faith's area now, you'll have to help them clear before you can even dream of that," Dutch told her freeing her next. "First things first, you have to help me clear this island."

"Alright. Tell us what we need to do." Evelyn replied.

“First, you both need to change your clothes,” Dutch told them, “I have some spare stuff in the closet over there, when you're done come over I’ll tell you where to head.” 

***

Evelyn crouched down behind bushes and whispered towards her partner. "I've counted five. We should split, you take out the ones near the dock, I got the ones in the building. Unless you got a better plan?" 

“No that sounds good,” She told her pulling out her pipe, getting ready to move. “Knock ‘em out move out.” Rena gave her a smile before dipping into the water to get the sneak on them. Evelyn gave her a thumbs up and turned the opposite direction, sneaking behind a window and peering in. From inside she saw two men and a hostage, hogtied and lying face down on the floor. Waiting for the perfect opportunity, she pulled one of the men through and knocked him against the wall, leaving him unconscious. She made quick work of the other two, then using her pair of handcuffs to lock them both to a radiator side by side. She stood up, pleased at herself. Evelyn grabbed one of the men's rifle, freed the hostage, who thanked her profusely, before discreetly heading out to check how Rena was doing.

Rena climbed on top of the docks pipe in hand hitting the Peggie in front of her hard. She pulled out some rope and was starting to Hog Tie them when another Peggie turned the corner. Instead of immediately shouting, this cult member stayed quiet, slowly inching behind her, ready attack once he was close enough.

Noticing the man, Evelyn panicked and shouted, "Rena behind you!"

“Shit,” Rena said picking up her pipe trying to stand when she saw the barrel of a gun pointed at her face. She froze for a moment hesitation, unsure if his finger or her swing would be faster. Evelyn quickly drew her pistol, aimed for his head and pulled the trigger. She grimaced, watching the body drop lifelessly and hit the ground with a thump. 

When the blood-spattered, and the Peggie fell dead on the ground Rena couldn’t help but feel upset. A feeling of guilt came up next, wondering if she had been more careful that somehow she could have saved the person's life. They couldn’t all be crazed people, they were being lead astray, Dutch talked about drugs, right? She found herself stepping back feeling more and more frustrated with herself as she looked around to see if they cleared the area. 

"Rena, are you alright?" She began to walk over to her, briefly scanning her for injuries. "You need to watch your back. You could have gotten hurt or worse." 

When Lyn came over she hesitated a bit before saying, “Thank you. I-I’ll try to be more careful next time. Wait till we’re done to tie them.” 

"Yeah…" Noticing her look around, she spoke up, "Don't worry, I handled the others." She shifted, readjusting the strap of the rifle. Rena eyed the action feeling her nerves build again at how comfortable Lyn was wielding it. 

"I think Dutch said something about that weird tower we passed earlier. We should uh.. go check it out." Evelyn gave the body a last glance before turning her back towards Rena and walking towards that direction.

“Yeah, okay.” Rena said following her up the tower. Following Dutch’s instructions, they flipped the switch and looked at their map listening as he pointed out which areas were run by what Seed. 

“You both should start at Fall’s End, John sent out some sort of motivational video with Deputy Hudson kidnapped in it,” Dutch explained. 

Evelyn pressed the button on her walkie and gave Dutch a quick, “On it.” She turned to Rena, and let out a sigh. She had noticed how quiet her partner had been the whole way here, the tense feeling, “Look, I don’t think we’ll be able to survive through this without killing at least a few people. I did what I had to do.” 

“Do you want to keep doing it?” Rena accused, unable to stop herself. While they were waiting for the fog to clear it was becoming apparent that the numbers they were dealing with, put them at very slim odds. “I...this is insane.” She said out loud feeling overwhelmed.

“I don’t think I have a choice, Rena.” Evelyn snapped back. “They’ve killed people as well. Haven’t you noticed the bodies?” She threw out her arm, gesturing at nothing in particular.

"I have but that's not the point," Lorena told her shaking her head.

“Then what is it?” Evelyn breathed out tiredly. 

“I don’t want to become him, or sink to his level, I want to be better.” Lorena tried to explain, “Those people who come to him are people Lynn. People who’ve lost hope, and have nowhere to go, no one else to believe in except that psycho. I can’t kill them or watch you do it and keep going on.” 

“What are you trying to say?” Evelyn searched her eyes, hoping she wasn’t going to suggest what she had assumed. Her brow furrowed and her face scrunched up in irritation.

"We split up." Lorena told her, "I go to the river area and clear out the jail, you take Fall's End. We'll cover more ground anyway, it makes sense."

Evelyn stoned her face, trying not to show how hurt she was. She stood silently for a moment, “If you think that’s best.” She didn’t mean for it to come out sarcastically, but that's how it ended up sounding. Evelyn looked away, shaking her head, watching the remaining clouds of the fog clear away. 

"We can meet up again later," Rena said trying to ignore her tone and focus on the real problem. "I'll come to visit you in a day or two." She told her before walking toward the ladder trying her best to look like she was confident in what she was doing. 

“Alright,” she responded shortly, crossing her arms. Evelyn watched Rena descend down the ladder. She murmured under her breath, “Be safe.” unsure if the other deputy could even hear her anymore. 

***

Rena trekked down the Hellbane River slowly, still wet from swimming across from Dutch's Island to avoid peggies she attempted to squeeze out her braid and let some of her tension out. She hated fighting, especially with Evelyn who had been a good friend and confidant her first month at the job. But seeing the way she reacted, treating her like something she needed to protect constantly was starting to wear thin too. But still, she couldn't help but feel guilty for the way she left things.

Sighing Rena slipped into the forest line to pull out her i-pod so she could listen to something and calm some of her nerves.

***

Evelyn patted down a body, finding eighteen dollars and a box of half-full SMG ammo. She hastily shoved it in a backpack. The dead wouldn't need it. Looking up at the sky, she judged it was probably around four. She thought back to what her partner had argued. Of course, she didn't want to keep killing, she wasn't a monster, was she? She bit the inside of her mouth, a nervous tic. She'll make an attempt. 

Evelyn let out an exhausted breath, figuring it was time to get a move on and head to Fall's End. But before she could make a beeline in that direction, she noticed a woman up ahead with both her hands tied behind her, uttering pained sobs. Accompanying the woman were two peggies, Who forced a child that looked no older than seven into the back of a van. The followers turned to beat a man that lunged forward in a futile attempt to stop them, striking him until he no longer moved. 

The notion of Rena's words had escaped her completely. Evelyn drew her gun and checked to see if it had been fully loaded before advancing further. This is what she had to do.


	3. The Split

When Lorena had arrived at the police station there was hardly any time to argue at the people on the wall for shooting the Peggies down. She was too busy ducking and weaving trying to keep herself from getting hurt. Along the way she had traded her Pipe for a much lighter shovel and started to knock as many people as she could to the ground. By the time she had gotten in and spoken to the Sheriff, glad to see him alive and putting up a fight, another wave had descended upon their base. 

“They’ve got angels coming!” A younger woman shouted from the top of the tower. 

“Angels?” Rena asked feeling her breath hitch as she raced up to the wall to see who was approaching. She had just reached the top rung of the ladder and hurled herself up to the walkway when a Peggie started barrelling towards her. Adrenaline pumping she quickly swung her shovel at his head knocking him to the ground. When the screaming of Angels came, the rook was finally able to see what had the rebellion shook, watching as they climbed mercilessly fast, and mowed down some of the people on the barricade. 

“What are you doing! Shoot at them, Rook!” The woman yelled out to her clearly pissed.

“Fuck!” Rena cried out backing up fast as she drew out her gun. She didn’t want to kill them, but she was unsure if there was any other way a feeling of horror rising from her as she saw a green unearthly fog coming from their bodies. It all seemed too supernatural. She felt a rush of adrenaline finally gave her answer as she shot at their legs. 

She didn’t want to kill them, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t draw  _ blood _ . It didn’t stop the zombie-like woman from racing towards her but, it did slow her down long enough for Tracy to come behind and blast a hole through her head with a shotgun.

***

Evelyn snuck around the back of an auto shop and ascended up a ladder to the roof. Crouching down, she quickly grabbed at the guard and snapped his neck, pulling his body behind an air vent. With haste, she pulled out a pair of binoculars and scanned the area. Mary, she remembered her name being, from frequent lunch breaks at the Spread Eagle, sat on her knees, tied, a female peggie watching nearby to make sure her or the others did not escape. 

There were so many of them. A man behind some heavy artillery machine gun stood far across her on the other roof. Two stood near a fuel truck. Near the church, four peggies stood near a pastor in the same situation as the blond bartender. This was going to be tough. Frustrated, she tossed down her binoculars which ricocheted off a sniper rifle the man had dropped. Evelyn immediately reached for it and hesitantly aimed it at the man on the other side. One-shot and he fell back, the silencer making the other peggies none the wiser. 

She finished off the woman near Mary, then the four by the church. Easy. For the last two, she shot the fuel truck, setting off a loud explosion. She threw off the SMG she had gotten earlier and replaced it with the sniper rifle. 

"We got trouble, send in the chosen!" A bearded man rushed out from a building, screaming into his walkie. Before she had time to contemplate her next move a plane soared over her raining down bullets.

Shit. She missed one.

***

Lorena ran a hand through her hair as she listened to every request the Cougars had for her. While she liked the pin she was given the amount of work that they wanted her to do was astounding. How the hell was she going to blow up that giant Joseph statue anyhow? She had grenades and dynamite but that was about it. Hearing a radio signal about some missing cat had her hop into one of the cars the peggies left after their raid of the prison. She turned on the car and started to drive, wondering what station was playing on the radio. 

“ _ Help me Faith, Help me Faith, shield me from sorrow _ ….” 

She only listened to the song for a little while longer before deciding it was trash and switching the radio station over to rock, face still scrunched from the Peggie assault on her ears.

Rena slowed down at the side of the road seeing some peggies had captured a person. She hopped out of her car and pulled her gun out quickly firing at their legs and running over to knock them with a shovel once they dropped their weapon. When they were out for the count she leaned down to untie the captured person before she could even move her lips to ask if they were alright they disappeared into a puff of smoke, Rena coughed seeing butterflies spark her vision as she was engulfed in green.

"Welcome to the bliss." Was heard before she even saw Faith in front of her blowing green dust in her face. A goofy smile fell on her lips before she took Faith’s hands letting the Herald lead her further away from any of her goals.

***

The machine gun had proven to be pretty handy, bringing down the plane in seconds. Evelyn looked around, metal scraps, fire, and peggies littered the road. The place was a mess. She hopped down from the roof. Jogging over to untie Mary and the others. 

"Hey, you guy's alright?"

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Mary said standing and rubbing her wrists, “Especially since the bar’s still standing. Thank you!” Mary told her smiling offering her hand to shake. 

Evelyn took it. "Not a problem."

“Those were some ballsy moves, we really need your help here, most people are too scared to stand up to the Peggies.” Mary tried to explain.

“Or they got taught, what the cult feels is a lesson,” The pastor added standing up once he was freed. “I don’t know god’s plans but I know a good thing when I see it,” Jerome told her offering his hand as well. “You’re getting quite the rep here deputy.” 

She laughed nervously. "Can't tell if that's a good thing or not." Evelyn retorted, taking his hand and shaking it promptly. "If you guys need any help, I'm willing to pitch in, though."

“Good,” Jerome said nodding, “You’re probably the best thing to come through here in a long time. Come see me in the church after everyone’s settled, I’ll give you some work.” 

“We know you're looking for your friends, but if you help us we’ll be more able to help you, hell if you can get my Daddy’s truck back over here I’ll let you drive it around and give you a free lunch for the rest of your life,” May told her playfully hitting her arm. 

Thinking of food made Evelyn’s stomach rumble. “Now that seems like a deal.” 

***

"What are you trying to accomplish by fighting against us, Rena?" Faith sat on the ground across from the deputy, her legs folded to the side. Strange animals grazed around them through long grass, swaying through a haze of green. Lorena watched some of them go past her wide-eyed, her focus was fleeting as she took in her surroundings before looking back at Faith, one hand grazing some plant life. 

“I want to free people, they’re getting hurt. Everyones getting hurt and it's really sad, and you still don’t have shoes. Your feet it's not safe, there are rocks and shit.” She told her before letting out a patch of giggles. “Sorry, I’m cursing, your religious and pretty, it probably bothers you.” 

Faith tilted her head and a playful giggle escaped her throat, "We are saving people, Rena. Joseph is guiding us to the garden. Walk the path and you'll truly see what we are doing here is great." Faith took Lorena's hand into her own again, standing them both up.

Lorena sighed drifting closer to her, unable to help herself, “They’re killing people though, and you're drugging them with flowers.” The ‘ _ You’re drugging me _ ’ point was left unsaid. Lorena practically pouted before feeling something immediately pull her away from those dark thoughts. “How are you saving them?” She asked her instead of swinging their hands back and forth.

“Come. He will help you find the answers you seek.” Faith began to pull Rena, urging her to follow, or well from what it seemed, float after her. Faith pulled her to a larger clearing, only a magnificent tree adorning the area. A group sat amongst one another, circling around a preaching man. Upon closer inspection, Rena could see it was Joseph and listening intently with the others was Federal Marshall, Burke. Faith moved to Rena’s side and urged her to as well. Rena, however, shook her head keeping her hand in Faith’s feeling safer with the flower child than anywhere near Joseph, especially after the crash. If Faith noticed it she didn’t show it simply giving her hand a squeeze of encouragement.

“Our path diverges from the outside world, now and forevermore… So we must be strong. We must be vigilant.” Joseph preached.

Faith leaned closely to Rena and whispered, not wanting to interrupt, “Now you’ll see, Now you’ll truly understand..” 

Rena watched eyes drifting more towards Burke, confused as to why he looked both happy and enlightened by Joseph’s words. She remembered the man being so angry, so quick to leave her work-family behind after the crash, then he had the nerve to lie about waiting for her and Evelyn before trying to make a break for it. What a spineless, horrible, misguided, and lost man. Without thinking she squeezed Faith’s hand for comfort not understanding why her anger left her so quickly as the Father continued on with his speech of diligence. Joseph continued through his speech and with every sentence he took one step forth closer to Lorena and placed his hands on her shoulders. 

“You judge me… You judge us. The things that we've done.” Rena stared back at him feeling Faith let go of her hand, she frowned as her feeling of mistrust were forced away once again by the bliss as he grew closer.

Her voice was soft when she answered weakly, “Yes, I do.” 

The Father turned to look down, shaking his head, “People say I’m crazy… But when you wake up in the morning, you look at the same news I do. Do your eyes not fill with  _ horror _ ?” Joseph released her turning away and threw up his hands up towards the giant mushroom cloud forming in the distance, turning the once green skies into a fiery red. “This is our world? That we’ve built for our children? I did not ask for this _ I _ was _ chosen _ ,” Joseph took a hold of her, pulling her near and the buildings around them stood crumpled and in flames. Rena looked around in horror at the wreckage tempted to close her eyes shut finding herself unable to. 

“See everything is coming to an end. You can feel that, Lorena. I know  _ you _ can. We are hurtling towards our destruction and nobody is doing anything about it. I can see that. You can see. And  _ we _ are not crazy.” Rena opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself as she felt a dread take over her, something so deep she swore it was in her bones. Joseph opened his arms and looked around at the destroyed land. “So what are we supposed to do? We just sit back and await the inevitable?” 

“You could not kill,” Lorena told him stepping forward wanting to change his mind, “Save the people who actually want to be saved, stop making angels.” She said voice desperate, “It's scary, I-I can’t stop people from hurting them, I’m not sure I want to,” It was hard for her to tell what her thoughts were and what she was actually speaking, haze dripping over her mind like a blanket.

“I don’t claim to be a perfect man. But I saw what was coming and I chose to act. To lead. Because society is broken and the only way to go forward is to go back to the way things once were. Innocent and pure. So safe and protected in  _ our _ Garden.” Joseph smiled softly and her, “I can save you, Rena.” He bent down and plucked a single blooming flower and offered it to her. “Let  _ me _ save you.”

“I-I don’t want to have to be saved,” Lorena told him shaking her head, the bliss causing her to smile back. “I want to help, I want to save people.” She might have not had much of a choice career-wise when she was younger but it was still a thriving factor in both her attempt of joining the army and when she became a police officer.

Their surroundings shifted and they stood back in that clearing, although the people that once sat in the grass were no longer there and the green mist had slowly begun to fade. Faith appeared behind Joseph, her head cocked to the side with curiosity. They stood in silence for a moment before Joseph spoke up. 

“That is where we are, not everyone wants to be saved, Lamb. They don’t understand. But you could help them understand.” Joseph sandwiched one of her hands with his own. “You can help me convince them that this world is hurtling to its end.”

“All you have to do is walk the path, Rena.” Faith spoke up, coming closer to take hold of her other hand ignoring the dark glance that Joseph gave her. The emerald sky started to fade to blue and stars twinkled, started to appear one by one. Rena watched the sky feeling the strange feeling of happiness wear out of her system. 

“That...was surreal.” She said mostly to herself before looking down still seeing their hands on her. She felt a chill up her spine as she looked back up at Joseph and then to Faith shock hitting her system as she brought her hands back to herself. Faith smiled softly, not bothered by her sudden retreating. 

She looked at Rena hopefully, “Well?”

“I don’t…” Lorena looked back up at both of them, “Why do you think I can do this? I’m not...I don’t want to lead people here if they’re just going to get hurt, and even if I did, I'm not exactly the person they’d follow, to begin with. People don’t listen to me.” Faith placed a single finger to her own lips as she looked for an answer, but before she had time to open her mouth, Joseph raised a hand and cut her off. 

“Lorena, I know you weren’t here by chance. You can _ feel _ you have a purpose, whether it is against us or not. Fate led you to us and now it is your choice to decide what happens next. Our people, your people, will end up hurt no matter the path you take. The point is, that we must make sacrifices to ensure that we can rebuild our lives anew. A life where we will no longer have to inflict suffering or suffer anymore. This is what  _ He _ has told me.” Joseph stared deeply into her eyes. Lorena frowned at that breaking eye contact not wanting to feel his staring through her again. The thought of not being able to save everyone was a hard pill to swallow, and it didn't help that it was coming from the man who had kidnapped half of her co-workers. Not to mention how cryptic it all was. 

“I will let you think about it, Lorena,” Joseph suggested.

"You’re letting me think about it?" Lorena asked blinking in disbelief. 

Joseph inhaled and looked up as if searching for his thoughts. Before simply replying, "Yes."

"And you’re going to let me go?" She asked feeling even more confused.

"We want you to come to us on your own account, but," Faith held her hands behind her back and smiled that sweet innocent smile. "We can't wait for you to decide forever. Time is limited."

"A-Aliright, I'm starting to get that," Rena said nodding thoughtfully, before making another face unsure what to think of all this, "It's not unappreciated." She told them wanting to clarify.

"We want to save you," The Father finished tilting his head watching her reactions as if fascinated that she was still so calm around them.

"Right," Rena said nodding unsure how she got this lucky, "So, um, I'm going to go." She announced looking at both their faces before attempting to walk away.

Faith gave her a little wave, "Be safe."

"Thank you, for the talk, and time and stuff," Rena told them backing away waving back to her, not wanting to turn her back on them yet. "Happy Prior-Apocalypse?" She offered before turning and pulling out her map to figure out where they had taken her. What Rena had missed when she turned and walked away was the way Joseph's friendly smile had dropped to a solemn grim expression. He turned to the woman that stood servile beside him. 

"Make sure she walks the path. Don't disappoint me, Faith." 

***

Evelyn had never driven a semi-truck before, but hell, this wasn’t the only “first time for everything” situation that had occurred for her today. She pulled it up to the side of the Spread Eagle, honking the horn to grab Mary’s attention. She exited and gave an excited bartender a thumbs up. 

“Heck yes!” Mary said coming out the bar giving Evelyn a bear hug as soon as she came out of the truck, “Thank you! You did my daddy proud, come on let me get you some food and a cold one.” She told her guiding her inside. Night had come quick, but Evelyn had been far from ready to sleep, she didn’t think she could if she tried. So much had to be done. She could undertake getting rid of that gaudy, ripoff Hollywood sign. Seeing the only way she could possibly get to Joey, is pissing off John, that seemed like a good place to start. For now, she needed a break, just for five minutes. Evelyn rested against a rock along a small river. Maybe, if she was lucky she’d try her hand with fishing. 

Evelyn exhaled and pulled out her walkie instead, tossing it from hand to hand. How was her partner doing? Should she check? Evelyn toyed the button with her thumb, but before she could press it, it crackled to life. 

“Rena?”

“Not quite,” John Seed’s voice instead came crackling through the radio. “You’ve been very busy Deputy. It’s been hard not to notice.” Evelyn's mood instantly dropped. How the hell did he get her frequency? She took a moment, not sure if she should respond or not. 

She breathed in deeply, “Seed. I sure hope the reason you are radioing me is to tell me you plan on handing over Hudson.”

“Nope,” John almost hummed, “You’ll have to work much harder than that if you want to get to me, Deputy. I know, you're devastated, but you could speed the process up by confessing to me. I’m sure you’ve seen my infomercials by now.” 

“No, I haven't.” Evelyn lied, well... half lied. She had to shut it off mid-speech, she couldn’t stand seeing Joey like that, it made her sick. “I heard TV rots your brain. Could only imagine what your abysmal advertisement would do.” Evelyn kept her cool, she stood up and grabbed her rifle off the ground. A light laugh came from the other side of his walkie.

"Maybe, next time you really should catch it though. " There was a short pause before he came through again, "I am surprised to see you here alone. Your partner and you always seem to stick together." 

She knew it would have probably been best to just not respond, yet the carefree tone in his voice had irked her. She pushed the talk button and began walking towards a cornfield, "It's temporary. It doesn't mean I'm by myself." The lies came so easily now, lies she hoped he believed. 

"Interesting," John said humming again, " So you both did have a fight." Evelyn bit the inside of her cheek. She decided not to respond, hoping he would let go. To her dismay, her walkie continued to speak. "Don't get me wrong I definitely prefer working with you alone Steele, but it's obvious something happened between the two of you. You never let her out of your sight during your other patrols." John's voice explained. “It made it hard to get your attention.” Irritation rang clear as day through his tone.

She paled, feeling slightly uneasy at his suggested words. "Guess you'll just have to try harder to get to me, Seed." She growled his own words back at him. 

“Ooooh is that a challenge  _ Evelyn _ ?” John cooed, “I’ll gladly oblige.” 

Evelyn who had been walking for a few minutes, now stopped dead in her tracks.  _ How did this asshole know her name?  _ "Well..., I certainly enjoyed our chat." She quickly stated. "But, I have things to do and your property to destroy." Evelyn looked up at a silo filled with bliss soil and pulled out a single remote detonator.

“Watch yourself,” John advised tone sounding much angrier than before, “If you prove any more trouble I might just have to hunt you down.” 

***

Rena had only made one stop before going back to Fall's end. She heard that a woman had lost her cat and raced to help her out surprised to learn it was a Cougar. Lorena was now standing talking to Mabel the cat’s owner, having returned Peaches to her cage. Rena patiently listening to how the rude women thought she was too dumb to get her back when the big cat came back up to her, not minding when the cat walked around her so cutely.

"Hell you can have her, it'll be easier that way I won't have to take care of her and-" 

"Yes sure I don't mind," Rena said cutting her off going into pet the precious baby cooing to her, watching as Peaches curled up to her in response rubbing against her legs.

"Shit, you never purred at me that way you little traitor." 

"Come on Peaches," Rena cooed again leaving the gate Cat right by her side. "Thank you, Mabel." She told her before running back down the mountain.

"Evelyn you there?" Rena asked pulling out her walkie, "I...we need to talk. Coming to you."

Evelyn was glad she didn't switch off her radio after her pleasant conversation with John. So when she heard her partner's voice ringing instead though the speaker, she let out a breath of relief. Rena was still alive. 

" _ Rena, you alright _ ?"

“Yes...no?” Rena said honestly as she continued her trek back to her truck pulling down the back so Peaches could hop inside. “I’m just a little confused if I’m honest, but that’s beside the point. Evelyn, I’m sorry I reacted the way I did, my...thought process about all this has been a little unrealistic.”

"It's alright. We'll talk about it when we meet up. Do you want to group up at Falls End or do you need me to meet you halfway?" Evelyn rotated, getting the bearings of her location prior to the town. 

“Hmm how about where we usually go for lunch,” Rena told her looking around as she started up the car. 

"Works for me." Evelyn acknowledged.

“Cool, you can meet my cat,” Rena told her in a happy tone before placing her walkie down on the seat next to her as she started the drive into town.


	4. The Baptisim

Rena came back into the bar having brought out a water bowl for Peaches since she put everyone there a bit on edge and was left outside. She walked back in giving Evelyn a nervous smile. 

“You’ve done a lot of work here already,” Lorena told her looking around, “It's nice, they only have the jail set up over there so far.” 

_ Holy shit, that is a huge cat,  _ Evelyn pried her eyes away from the cougar. "Uh, yeah. I've been trying to keep busy, I guess." She shrugged modestly. Evelyn leaned back in her chair, "So what happened?"

Lorena ran a hand through her hair before saying, “They...drugged people out there, so much that they’re these brainless killing things. There’s nothing left their just husks screaming, I tried doing the usual thing and it backfired.”

"Jeez, this damn cult, what else are they doing to people?" Evelyn shook her head, "How are you holding up though?"

“I’m okay, Sheriff and the people he has out there watched my back,” Lorena assured her. “But, your right, w-we can’t avoid the bloodshed. I-I still don’t think I can, but I’m not going to get mad about others doing it anymore.” 

Evelyn pursed her lips tightly, "I'm sorry, Lorena. I wish it wasn't this way either." She hesitantly thought of placing a hand reassuringly on her shoulder but thought better of it. "What happens now?" Evelyn questioned, she figured they'd still split up, but two heads work better than one sometimes. 

“Um...well something else happened,” Lorena said sighing not wanting to leave her partner in the dark. “I...I got drugged, and went on a Bliss trip.”   
Evelyn recoiled back from shock. "They… they didn't do anything to you did they..?" She asked nervously.

Lorena sighed and explained everything that happened wanting to be open about what she was approached for. “Basically he wants to ‘ _ save me _ ’” Lorena told her using air quotes, “And then they just, both let me go.”

Evelyn shook her head, "You don't believe what they are telling you is true, do you? Save you from what, the so-called-end?" She scoffed. Joseph was insane and the people who believed him were no better. "And you heard what Dutch said about that woman, Faith. She's a manipulator."

“I believe the end of the world is coming, or there’s a possibility of it,” Lorena told her honestly, “But I don’t want that, especially if he’s going to continue to kidnap and hurt people. As for Faith, I don’t know, she doesn’t seem that bad like she’s trying to help.” The thought of buying a pair of shoes in case she got kidnapped again ran through her mind.

Evelyn held her tongue, irritated that she'd even think about the crap "The Father" was spitting out to be true. "Well… maybe you should hang around with me for just a little bit. Just to be safe?" Evelyn suggested.

Rena nodded at her, “Yeah, I’d like that. Peaches is coming too, she’s um, really good at cutting through them.” She tried to explain looking out one of the windows to see Peaches laying down waiting for her to come out. 

Evelyn looked where the large cat sat outside. "Peaches," She gave Rena a soft look before agreeing. "Alright, I was about to head out. Heard some guy named Nick needed help. Did you want to tag along or rest up?" Evelyn stood from her seat, grabbing her backpack and gun that had been thrown to the ground. 

“No, I’m good!” Rena told her before joking, “Sleep is for the weak.” 

"Hope you aren't afraid of heights," Evelyn stated before raising a hand to Mary before heading out the door. 

“Nope, just dogs,” Rena told her following after petting Peaches to wake her up, telling her it was time to go.

***

Evelyn crouched behind a bush and pointed towards a plane hangar attached to a grand wooden mansion. "It's John's, so you know this place is going to be loaded with guards. If we do this stealthily, we could fly out of here without anyone knowing until last minute." Evelyn paused to turn to her partner. "And no one gets hurt." 

“That sounds perfect,” Rena said smiling at the effort her partner was putting in before pulling her shovel out. She turned to Peaches and placed a finger on her mouth telling the cat to be quiet and at the ready. Peaches responded by sinking low to the ground and moving to circle around the base.

One by one they knocked out the Peggies surrounding John’s home. It was only when Rena ducked to a new corner that one of the guards on the roof saw them. Before alerting the others he pulled out his walkie to report. “John, John! The deputies are here.” 

John sprung up from his bed, glad for once he fell asleep in his work clothes, he stood patting himself down thinking fast. “Hit them with Bliss bullets, I don’t want them killed.” If they were coming to give him a visit, he was going to make it one to remember. 

“You heard him!” The guard shouted to the ones who were left standing, “Switch weapons and bag them!” 

Evelyn quickly grabbed for her pistol and ducked around the side of the building. Not good. She fired aimlessly around the edge, grazing the shoulder of one of the peggies. A few shots later her gun clicked, it jammed, and one of the followers raced knowingly towards her. 

“Shit,” Rena said looking back at Evelyn watching as one guard rushed around the corner to shot her. Before she could even shout Peaches lunged from the forest line tackling the man down letting out a ferocious growl.

“They’ve got a cougar?!” A peggie shouted.

"Holy shit, Peaches. I owe you some fish later." Evelyn quickly turned to look for Rena. "We need to get to the plane!" She shouted. 

“We’re going to have to run,” Rena told her running a hand through her hair, “On three?” She asked. 

Evelyn nodded once before getting in a sprinting position. “Three.” 

They both raced to the hanger, Rena felt one bullet hit her shoulder and watched as sparkles show in her eyes, “They’re hitting us with Bliss!” She shouted to Evelyn as she wobbled a bit as they got inside the Hanger “Fuck…” She said trying to keep up but feeling her sluggishness hit her fast as butterflies danced around her. 

“Rena!” Evelyn whipped her head around and landed her eyes on her staggering partner. Evelyn raced to her, prepared to help her up into the plane before coming to a stop. 

Before Lorena could get to the plane she dropped to the ground, revealing John and what was left of his guards behind him. “I did warn you to be careful Evelyn,” John told her smug smile on his face as he raised his weapon to shoot a bliss bullet at the center of her chest. “Though I am glad you decided to come to me, makes this so much easier.” 

_ Shit. _ Before her legs gave out, pain spread through her chest. Her head drooped lazily and she gazed down at a passed out Rena. She slurred attempting to spit out an ungracious comment towards the herald. And then there was darkness.

***

Rena woke up first, seeing the familiar butterflies, but a lack of Faith and green in the room she was in. When she saw John in front of her, she tried to move her hands but quickly realized she was tied down to the chair she was sitting in. 

“Ah, you're up,” John said turning away from a tied up Lyn. Rena watched as John pet Lyn’s hair once more before walking towards her. “Did you have a nice sleep Deputy? It's been a while hasn’t it?” 

“Two days,” Rena told him nodding, “I got drugged again?” 

“I’m afraid so,” John told her nodding, “But this is good, we’ll get to have an honest open chat,” He told her pulling out a recorder placing it on the counter next to her, “You’d like that wouldn’t you?” 

“Sure!” Rena told him smiling not noticing the blinking red light, “You have a nice vest.” She told him before looking down to check, “And shoes!”

“Yes,” John said pausing unsure how to respond to the later comment, “Lorena could you tell me about your fear of dogs?” 

“Oh...that’s not fear! Well, it is, but it is one of my triggers!” 

“Triggers?” John asked propping his head up with his hand. 

“Yeah! If I hear a dog bark, I can’t move and I have a panic attack.” Rena told him.

“What are your other triggers?” John said pressing

“Silly! I don’t know you well enough to tell you those!” Rena giggled at him shaking her head, even blissed she knew it was a bad idea.

“Hmmm, I suppose that’s fair enough, why do dogs trigger you then Rena?” 

“Oh that’s easy, my Uncle threatened me when I was twelve with one of his fighting dogs. He said he’d feed me to the wolves a lot, and I told him to stuff it one night,” Rena’s eyes dimmed a bit, “Then he showed with it the next morning, and sicked it on my leg. I went to the hospital but I still have a scar on my right leg. I don’t like it.” 

“Do you have other scars?” John chose to press lightly around the abuse, not wanting to startle her out of the bliss to early. 

“I do!” Rena told him smiling, “Mostly on my legs, I have these lines on my right leg, glass shards, mom threw a bottle once, and then I have burns on the back of my thighs. The home was hell.” 

“That’s unfortunate,” John said ready to move onto the next topic before Rena unexpectedly continued on the subject anyway.

“Oh it’s my own fault,” Rena tried to explain, “I bothered my Mom, wasn’t thankful for what I had, I complained a lot back then without knowing what work she did. Well, that’s what she told me anyway. And I should have avoided Uncle more, not get mad at him keep my head down. I don’t have a filter, it's hard for me not to get in trouble.”

John gave her a dark look before shaking his head, “No it wasn’t, don’t repeat that to me again.” 

“Oh, okay I’m sorry,” Rena told him frowning, “I-I don’t like telling people, it makes them sad. Don’t tell Lyn, she’ll try and protect me even more and she’s already pushing herself too much.” 

“She does care about you a lot,” John said tone slightly angry feeling a wave of envy run through him, “Do you think it’s selfish to confide in her?” 

“She’s…”Her face scrunched as if thinking on how to describe their relationship, “Lyn is the closest thing to good family I’ve ever had, everyone at the station is!” Rena told him, “Well except Nancy. _ Fuck _ Nancy. But you understand right?” 

John sighed, slightly relieved to hear the word family came out of her mouth instead of anything else, “I think I do Deputy.”

When Evelyn awoke, butterflies danced around her, she smiled lightly and reached towards one, realizing that she couldn’t. 

“Oh, your partner’s coming to,” John’s voice could be heard as he came into view in front of Evelyn. Rena was tied to a chair across from her, butterflies floating around her as well peaceful smile on her face despite their circumstances. “We were just talking about you weren’t we Lorena?” 

Rena nodded before blinking again, “Is she okay?” 

“Hmm, how bout we ask her that, are you okay darling?” John asked her cupping Lyn’s face.

“I feel really good.” Evelyn cooed happily, unnaturally leaning into the man's touch.

“Good,” John told her fondly letting his finger brush her cheek enjoying how calm she was for once. 

She paused allowing a moment to pass, before whimpering, “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you safe Rena, I messed up the one-two-three.” She tried holding out her fingers to gesture counting.

Rena giggled, “It’s okay, Lyn they like me! We were just talking about my scars and my family.” She gave her another smile trying to help reassure her.

“Oh, that seems lovely,” Evelyn replied with genuine enthusiasm, nodding her head a little too much, making herself dizzy for a moment. 

“Yes, but it's time your partner left,” John told Evelyn opening the door to let a guard in, “Don’t worry you’ll be joining her soon, Lyn, we just need to have privacy during these chats.”

“Oh! Thank you,” Lorena said as she was cut free and guided out of the room, “My name is Lorena-” her voice trailed out of the room as she was taken to where she would wait.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, goodnight!” Evelyn quickly shouted after she had already left.

“Now we get to talk, would you like to tell me about yourself, Evelyn?” John asked taking a seat across from her.

She tilted her head, a confused expression crossed her face. She attempted to kick her legs. “I have a cat. Her name is Cleo. Can I take these off?” She tugged at her restraints. “It’s not nice to tie up people.”

“Cleo, she sounds cute.” John told her before doing so, “Breaking in isn’t nice either.”

“Oh.. I’m sorry..” She replied wholeheartedly. 

“It’s fine, if you didn’t we wouldn’t get the chance to chat now would we dear?” John told her smiling, “Do you have family Evelyn?” John asked her moving on to the next topic as he got up to fetch her some water. 

Evelyn stared at a spot on the ceiling. “No, It’s just me and my cat,” She squinted as if thinking really hard before asking, “Did I tell you her name was Cleo?” 

“You did,” John told her gently guiding her face down to the straw in the cup he was holding for her, “No parents? No, significant other?” 

She shrugged, “I don’t like people.” she made a move to put the straw in her mouth, missing the first time. Using her tongue in a ridiculous manner, she managed to put it in between her lips and take slow sips.

“Hmm,” John said tone showing frustration while his smile twitched a bit as he paused trying to get more out of her any way he could, “Do you have anything you’d like to ask me?” He offered while he calculated.

She thought for a moment, “Why do you do this?” She tried to wave her numbed arms. 

John laughed at that placing the glass back down on the counter next to them, “It's my job to free the souls of sinners from their prisons.” He told her bopping her nose playfully. “I do it to help my family, keep our people safe from the impending doom.”

“Oh.” She replied simply. Evelyn frowned, noticing the number of butterflies slowly decreasing. “Goodbye,” she silently whispered to them and chuckled to herself. 

“Why are so keen on fighting this?” John asked her curious, “No one else has helped you yet, you’ve been on your own until your partner waltzed back in. It's been both admirable and exhausting watching you run around trying to stop us, dear.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Evelyn's head started to feel fuzzy, her thoughts slowly starting to make sense. “I-I don’t know. Somebody has to fight. To help people. I, I couldn’t save her, so I need to save others.” She slightly pulled back from him, remembering she didn’t like it when people were too close. “I don’t want to feel powerless.”

“Who is her?” John asked returning his hand to his side moving to grab a vial of bliss in case he needed it, seeing her eyes slowly returning to normal.

“Joce-” Evelyn paused, the name so foreign on her tongue. She couldn’t remember the last time she had even spoken her name. “My, sister, ” Her face scrunched up in anger, the sequences of that night flashing in her brain like a slideshow.

“What happened to her?” John pressed, offering more water to her seeing the stress in her eyes, surprised that she was still talking. 

Evelyn shook her head promptly, looking around worriedly, the sudden realization of the situation crashing down onto her. She clutched her hands into fists, the feeling of her fingers returning. “Where’s Rena?” Sharp eyes threw daggers towards the man dressed in blue.

“Rena is with my men in the other room, waiting to be taken to your baptism,” John explained before taking a sip from the water himself. “We’ll be starting your atonement for your sins soon.”

Evelyn stared at him like he grew two heads. “Atonement? Sins?” She shifted in her seat, testing the hold on her restraints. “And if I refuse?”

"You won't," John told her confidently, "You'll learn to say yes very soon Darling."

He stood up walking to the door to get the guards again, “You were very silly under the Bliss.” He told her smirking, “Very cute too deputy. We’ll have to see if we can talk again after your cleansed.” He told her as she was moved out of the room. Evelyn grated her teeth, her eyes full of repugnance, never leaving John’s returning stare until he was out of vision.

***

Both Evelyn and Rena’s heads were being held underwater as John’s voice poured through the air. The bliss making them focus on it. 

“We must wash away our past. We must expose our sins.” He told them, “We must atone!” And at that word both Rena and Evelyn were brought up for air.

“Ah!” Rena shouted as she gasped, hair was somehow undone from its braid making her curly hair poof up barley giving her and chance to see who had dunked her. Her hands attempted to push the hair out of her sight before she was grabbed and slowly brought to shore.

When Evelyn was brought up from the water, she let out a guttural moan, those same sparkles invading her vision. She was starting to get tired of getting "blissed". She took slow labored breaths, slowly being motioned forward, closer to a preaching baptist. Evelyn watched quietly as Rena was pushed passed her.

“For only then, may we stand in the light of God and walk through his gate,” John pressed his hand against another captives forehead as Rena and Lyn were dragged over, “and onto Eden.”

What a load of bullshit, Evelyn thought. She weakly trudged through the water, edging closer with an unsteady pace, trying to keep up her pace with the man that held onto her arm. The cold breeze caused her to shiver, well, she figured it was from the breeze. Rena was brought over next, her head getting the same press as the others, feeling the sign of the cross drawn on her. Watching as he closed his book and stared at Lyn as she was pulled away back to the shoreline, but not to the Vans like the others yet. Evelyn furrowed her brow with confusion and watched as Rena walk farther ahead of her. 

When the Peggie bringing Lyn over got close enough John motioned for them to stop, “Not this one.” Passing his book to them he stepped towards her eyes never breaking for her stare. “This one’s not clean.” He told them before grabbing her and shoving her back underwater. Before she opened her mouth to object, Evelyn was forcefully pushed back down. Immediately the water burned through her nose and she instinctively grabbed at the tattooed arms, trying to pull free. Her nails digging into the flesh as she squirmed helplessly, only able to make out a morphed shape of the baptist.

“No!” Rena shouted struggling against the grip of the Peggie holding her. John pulled Evelyn out, face getting even closer to her’s, their foreheads almost pressing together. She sputtered, hair matted against her face. She attempted to choke out "stop", but only ragged breaths and groans escaped her.

“Ahh...shhh darling,” John cooed before shoving her back in the water.

“Stop it!” Rena protested kicking the Peggie holding her back in the shin racing to the water to try and help save her friend, “You’ll kill her!”

A man from behind spoke up before Rena had a chance to make it towards John, "Do you mock the cleansing, John?" 

John's face fell and he immediately ceased his actions like a scolded child. He was no longer smiling viciously only looking like a scolded child, "But they-"

"Shhhh... You have to love them, John. Do not let your sin prevent that." Joseph paused, letting his words sink in. "Bring them onto me." Joseph cast a gaze towards the follower who had been kicked, a silent order to retrieve Rena as well. 

The guard growled lowly, gripping the woman roughly by the arm. Rena was shoved back towards him, almost tripping over herself as she felt the bliss rush past her adrenaline once more, "Thank you." She told Joseph weakly before watching Evelyn.

Evelyn while struggling, followed the peggie who had been holding up half her weight. The stars in the air floating more frequently then they did before. She was lead out of the water, not feeling her feet touch the ground. She was brought to a stop in front of the man with yellow shades and standing once again beside her partner. Joseph gave Lorena a look over hand gingerly brushing the hair out of her face letting out a soft sigh as if seeing her in a new light before his attention was brought over to Evelyn once more.

Joseph cast them a look both a look, then turned his attention to Evelyn. "Despite all that you have  _ done _ . You are not beyond salvation." Joseph now talking to them both spoke again after a short pause, his voice close to a hushed whisper. Evelyn swayed in her spot having trouble focusing on him. 

He placed one hand on Evelyn and Rena's shoulder, leaning closer. "You're  _ not _ here by accident, or by chance. You are both here by the grace of  _ God _ . You've been given a gift." 

Rena looked at him before looking back at Evelyn making sure she was alright, "So the trial period isn't over." She muttered to herself, listening as Joseph let out a small chuckle before turning serious again.

"Now it remains to be seen whether you both choose to  _ embrace _ it, or cast it aside," Joseph release his grasp on the deputies and placed it on his brother.

"These two shall reach Atonement, or the Gates of Eden shall be  _ shut _ to you, John." Joseph finished, placing his forehead to his. John closed his eyes looking fearful but still as they grew closer.

“Yes, Joseph,” John practically whispered when he pulled away, John handed him over something Rena couldn’t make out, before watching him walk away. He gave the two rooks a solemn nod eyeing Rena once more before heading off in a vehicle and driving away. 

"Lyn, say something please," Rena asked her in a whisper to her friend, stopping only when John placed a finger to his lips shushing her, a malicious look back in his eyes. Evelyn's head drooped forward and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shake off the effects of the bliss. Everyone's voice seemed so far away and she had a hard time concentrating. Evelyn responded to Rena, a small noise similar to a hum. 

“You will both confess,” John told them, though he was mainly staring at Evelyn now, “Every sin you’ve ever committed. No matter how petty, no matter how small. I will pull from you.” He told Lyn stepping closer just barely touching their heads again let out a soft scoff, “Then we’ll see if your worth of atonement.” He then motioned for his guards that ushered the two of them back towards the van.

Feeling a sense of drowsiness take a hold of her, Evelyn passed out. 

***

When Evelyn came to, Rena was sitting across from her tears in her eyes. Her eyes shot open and Evelyn's body jolted up ready to attack, only realizing she had still been bound. "Rena? What's wrong, did they do something to you?" Evelyn asked voice laced with concern.

“I-I’m okay someone-someone just messed up a word because they were on the bliss and it triggered me,” She told her shaking her head, “I just need a few minutes.” Rena told her using her bound hands to rub her eyes, “How are you?” 

Evelyn nodded her head understandingly. "I've been worse... Do you know where are we going?"

A man across her spoke up, "Takin' us to John's bunker for Atonement, I think." he looked down at the ground, then quickly back up at Rena and whispered loudly. "If we just say yes... W-we can get it over with. They'll let us go.right?" The peggie that sat beside Evelyn grunted, which was probably meant to come out as a laugh. 

"I'm sorry but probably not," Rena told them, " just trying to be honest."

Evelyn looked over the cult member, there were four hostages, including herself and Rena. If she was quick enough, she might be able to jump on him, snap his neck, and grab for his gun before he had a chance to fire it. Evelyn gave Rena a glance, hinting at her plan. She stared down at her zip-tied hands, counting down from ten. Rena nodded getting ready to tackle him if there was one thing she learned her time as a police officer it was how to disarm someone.

Everything happened so quickly, pulling her arms over his head and pulling her bonds roughly around his neck. Evelyn let out a wild scream. The cult member immediately grabbed at her hands trying to pull them off him, dropping his SMG in the process. Rena picked up the gun and smashed their head in knocking him out getting ready to pass the gun to Evelyn to take out the driver when she felt everything shift watching as the gun dropped to the ground.

The car flipping over wasn't part of her plan. Evelyn groaned and tried to sit up, her body aching. What the hell happened? She looked over at Rena, to see if she was conscious, only to be greeted by an angry and still breathing peggie holding a pistol to her face. Rena landed harshly before looking up to see Evelyn in trouble, she moved fast adrenaline pumping as she tackled the peggies legs watching as the van doors opened behind him, and a preacher shot the peggies clear in the head.

"We didn't come all the way here just to lose you now," Jerome told them offering Evelyn a hand up before breaking her bonds. Before doing the same to Rena, "Let's get you two home." Evelyn blinked and looked up at him, mouth agape.

"Jerome, You're one hell of a pastor. Thank you." 

“All in a day's work,” he told her smiling before introducing himself to Lorena and the other’s captive.

***

They sat in the helicopter now, hovering back to safety. Evelyn watched the trees below pass by. Not lifting her head, she said, "Maybe we should head to Henbane or Whitetail." She rubbed her goosebumps arms, slightly shivering from the cold. She figured it would probably be best for John Seed to calm down before they returned. Nick was going to have to wait just a bit longer.

"Yeah, maybe whitetail, where no one wants to kidnap us and drug us yet?" Rena asked.

"Mm, probably for the best." She sat in silence for a second. "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to split up again though. I got you into this mess." Evelyn paused, "But honestly this whole thing is a mess."

"Stick together one more day see what happens?" Rena told her nudging her slightly trying to cheer her up.

Evelyn smirked. "Double the trouble." She scrunched her face, "Wait, what happens to your cat?"

"Jerome said that Peaches apparently went back to the bar," Rena said laughing, "And Mary told them to go after us. She's such a good girl. We have to pick her up before we leave, please?"

Evelyn raised her brow, “Do I really have a choice?”

“No,” Rena told her teasing, “I’m just trying to be nice.” 


	5. New Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! This Chapter is a little shorter, but don't worry the next one is going to make up for that.

Part of what Evelyn had enjoyed being in Whitetail was the nature and solitude. Montana was really beautiful if you took away the crazed cult. She had never been camping but figured she'd probably be interested and now would be the best time to do so. Evelyn stood by a lit campfire staring at her map mulling things over while Rena pet her cats head absentmindedly. 

"Dutch says he's got his niece hold up at the mill, along with a bunch of other people. What do you think?" Evelyn asked her partner, wondering what approach she wanted to take. 

"Help her first? It's the least we could do after he scooped us up." Rena suggested, "Go in quiet and sick Peaches on them if it goes south?"

"Yeah, that seems good." Evelyn folded the map and shoved it into her bag. "You take the ground level with peaches. I'll snipe from up high and watch your back. Then we release the prisoners. How does that sound?" 

“Good, right Peach?” Lorena asked the cat who walked over to cuddle in between the two of them before putting her head into Evelyn’s lap keeping her body in a position where Rena could pet her flank. 

***

The morning they wandered into the base cautiously, Evelyn getting a great vantage point from the cliffside. Peaches wandered around the edges of the tall grass. Rena snuck inside the room filled with cages, knocking out the guards she ran into along the way. She stopped when she saw what looked like a speaker system in the middle of the room. Evelyn held her breath and pulled the trigger, easily killing two in one. The corners of her lips turned up, she was getting pretty good at this. She watched Rena easily take out a fair share of men through her scope. And so was her partner. She followed her until she stopped at what looked like a bunch of stereos and wires. 

Cautiously Rena spoke into her walkie in a near whisper, “I have a fun idea.” 

“Oh god, what are you doing?” Evelyn whispered back. “Don’t blow our- “ 

Rena pulled out her iPod and connecting it to the speakers cutting Jacob’s speech about hunting off mid-sentence, picking the song [Close Your Eyes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YslddHq0ins) by Kim Petra from her i-pod. Moving quickly after pressing play to duck to another corner of the room waiting for them to start to scramble. 

The weird Darwinism commentary quickly cut out and was replaced instantly by some upbeat song she had never heard before, was strange at first. Evelyn blinked, shocked not expecting Rena to do that. Well, that’ll sure piss the guy off, it was kinda clever, she admitted. Evelyn observed the havoc, as each and every one of the peggies trying to find the culprit, Rena, who would easily duck behind them when they got too close. Evelyn held in a chuckle and shot a few cult members that tried to set off the alarms.

The first peggie Rena ran into she managed to tackle down, hitting his arms to rid him of the gun before knocking him in the head with her shovel. The next had spotted her and shouted to the others, causing Rena to turn and run as he pulled out a weapon racing to the forest line, ready to duck and hide in the trees until they gave up looking for her. Evelyn landed her sights on Rena, then quickly turned to look for anyone in the direction she was heading. The third peggie saw her bolting and foolishly decided to chase after her, causing Peaches to jump and tackle them gnawing at their legs. Once making sure Rena was clear Evelyn got ready with her walkie.

“How many do we have left?” Rena asked Evelyn as she kept moving pulling out her handgun knowing she needed the distance now.

“Looks like about three, one is headed towards you on your left,” Evelyn responded quickly.

“On it,” Rena said stepping out to shoot at the Peggies legs quickly watching as he fell to the ground. She pulled out her shovel knocking him out for good measure. She raced back to the cages to where Peaches had taken out another Peggie. Another was about to try firing his SMG at the Cougar, which caused Rena to race forward hitting them harder than usual. 

“Stay away from my cat!” She told them spitting on them. 

“Nice one, noted that I don’t want to get on you or Peaches’ bad side.” Evelyn joked.

Rena laughed at that, “Sorry I might have gone too far, help me with the cages?” Rena asked through the walkie before cooing to Peaches to get her to stop her snack. “You did such a good job.” She told her petting her head good before racing to bust open some locks. 

“On my way down,” Evelyn responded before taking the zipline to ground level. 

“Everyone okay?” Rena called out. 

Evelyn walked over and let out a couple of men thrown in the same cage, untying their hands before helping them up. They dusted themselves off and replied, “Sure as hell better now that you two showed up. Thought we were goners.” 

After being let out of the cage, a woman in a green dark green hoodie eyes them up and down. “That was pretty impressive shit you guys did out there. You didn’t finish them off though, what's up with that?”

“I’m not really for killing the Peggies,” Rena told her sighing, “Feel like they’re just being taken advantage of a drugged into it.”

“Well I guess I shouldn’t judge you too hard, you did save my ass. As long as you don’t let those fucks go. Name’s Jess.” Jess looked around and once finding what she had been searching for, she picked up her bow. “Cool cat, by the way.” She pointed a finger at Peaches. 

“We met Dutch he told us to come by and check on you,” Rena explained before smiling wide at the mention of her cat, most people were immediately terrified of her. “Do you want to pet her? Her name’s Peaches.” 

“Hell yeah,” Jess crouched down and called over the cougar, petting her. She seemed to be really good with animals. Jess stood up and crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her stance. “I appreciate the things you guys did here, but if you got time I could use one last favor.” 

“Sure,” Rena told her nodding, “What is it?” 

Jess’s eyes darken, “I need you to help me take down The Cook.” Jess stated, before walking towards the forest line expecting her to follow. 

*** 

“He did what with their parent's toes!?” Rena gasped stopping in their trek up the hill.

“Cut them off, told them to eat it. Now that bastard is going to pay,” Jess stated with venom in her voice. Evelyn furrowed her brow. This was all sorts of fucked-up. She didn’t even know how to respond to that, so she stayed quiet, following alongside them both. 

“I’m lifting my kill ban,” Rena told both of them, “And if stupid Joseph tries to capture me again I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind!” Jess raised a brow and Evelyn looked at her surprised. 

“Seriously? Are you sure, Rena?” Evelyn asked with an uneasy feeling. Killing people wasn’t something you could go back on and the nightmares came frequently, that's if you managed to sleep.

“Fuck yeah. Stick it to them,” Jess butted in, “Peggies don’t deserve mercy. Especially if they’re sick fucks like him.” 

“Just this once,” Rena told Evelyn, “Either of you beat me to it I’m not going to be upset, but you don’t fuck with kids like that.”

Jess stopped, “There he is. Already on his next victim.” She growled almost animalistically while pointing a finger down at a man with a fuel tank on his back. 

Rena heard the screams and felt her anger rise again, “We can go down, stealth as much as possible, then go for the big guy?” 

Evelyn slung her gun over her shoulder and took out a hunting knife. “Works for me.” She hopped down from the ledge, scaling the cliffed carefully. 

Lorena turned to Peaches, “Stay here.” She told her in a soft voice point to the ground waiting for her to sit. She slowly moved down the hill wanting to be careful as possible letting Evelyn take the lead. Evelyn jabbed her finger to the left and then to the right. Split up. She crouched and snuck behind a peggie, grabbing his face and jabbing her knife into his neck and tossing him to the side. When she looked up, Jess had already taken down three guys. 

Rena took down her man the usual way knocking him quickly with a shovel moving his body back to hide round the corner she had crawled from. The only men that were left were at the center of the area watching as the cook burned a woman alive. Rena dropped her shovel again pulling out her handgun waiting till she saw Evelyn again starting a countdown from five on her fingers. Evelyn nodded, crouched down and ready to pounce. Once Rena had reached one, she grabbed one of the men from behind and snapped his neck.

Rena came out and immediately aimed for the pack of gasoline on the back of the cook, hearing a hiss came from behind him, before moving to shoot some of the other men at his side, running as flames came her way. “Shit,  _ shit,  _ shit!” 

“Jesus, Rena!” Evelyn quickly turned and started running away from the moving bomb. She dipped behind a metal sheet and braced for the impact. Lorena managed to hide behind one of the empty storage units' hands covering her ears. When there was a thunderous boom she slowly peaked over glad to see the cook on the ground. 

“Sorry, I did not think that through,” Lorena said looking over at Evelyn glad she was okay even if she looked like she was in shock.

“It’s fine.” She waved her hand dismissively and stood up, checking her surroundings. “Looks like the coast is clear though. Good job.” Jess rushed down to meet up with the two deputies. She looked around at the aftermath. 

“So that's it huh… Dutch was right. I don’t feel any different than before. I thought if I took revenge, that maybe I’d get that piece of myself that had been taken.” Jess shrugged and kicked at the dead body of a follower. 

Rena sighed at that nodding, “You helped save other families from suffering what you did Jess, at least take comfort in that?” 

“Yeah. I guess you’re right on that. Thanks…” Jess shoved her hands deep into her pockets. “I really appreciate you guys coming all this way to help though. If you need help murdering peggies. I got your back, anytime.” 

Rena laughed nervously at that, “Okay might take you up on that.” Jess was fast with the bow, and it was silent too. Plus Peaches seemed to like her enough, “We could always use help right, Lyn?” 

Evelyn nodded in agreement. “For sure. Backup is always good to have.” 

***

A few days later they cleared another Outpost where another citizen Wade Fowler, they learned to be his name, spoke of a 600-pound bear. It was a huge attraction at the F.A.N.G center after they had managed to liberate the place successfully. Cheeseburger they called him, even though they probably could have deduced that fact due to the overwhelming amount of gaudy merchandise that was heedlessly scattered about. Wade wanted them to go out and look for a damn bear. How insane that would have sounded if someone had asked her a few months ago. Instead, Evelyn shrugged, said “fuck it” and grabbed a fishing pole for her and Rena. 

“ _ He’s got the diabetes. So it’s probably not recommended that y'all feed him actual cheeseburgers. He’s real harmless, like a big ol’ teddy bear. You know that’s an actual...bear. _ ” She remembered him saying and Rena replying:

" _ I understand, a big fluffy guy who's good to you as long as you're good to him, _ " Rena told him smiling.

They'd been doing a lot of work lately in the Whitetail region, knocking through their missions like they were born to do it. It had been pretty easy taking over the F.A.N.G Centre with more hands and Evelyn was kinda glad she didn’t have to do it alone. Of course, she kept in mind about Rena’s triggers. So when she sat perched on the giant Cheeseburger monument, rifle in hand, she quickly discarded the wolves that lingered about first. She couldn’t have anything go wrong again or trigger Rena. 

Evelyn and Rena now stood by a small river, rods in hands and not a care in the world. It was relaxing, Evelyn liked this and would try to cherish this moment while it lasted. The string tugged forward and she tightened her grip and starting reeling back. 

“Think I got another one. Try to keep your cat away from it this time.” Evelyn teased, a rare and minuscule smirk forming on her lips. Rena giggled back before turning to her cat and saying "Sit and wait." The cougar let out a small huff but sat nonetheless. Lorena gave her a pet and praised her before turning back to their rods. Evelyn pulled back her fishing pole, lifting a big salmon out of the water. Nice. She hastily threw it into the bucket and threw her line back into the river, a pleased look on her face. 

"You know, even if the situation is shit, there's no one I'd rather be stuck within it other than you," Lorena said smiling staring off into the water. Evelyn paused and turned to Rena, eyebrows raised and mouth open slightly agape. It was unexpected and had somewhat caught her off guard. Evelyn pursed her lips shut tight, bringing her attention back to the water along with her partner.

"Yeah. You too." Evelyn nearly whispered. No one had told her they actually enjoyed her company before. "Don't see what you find so compelling about me though." Most people thought she gave off a " _ bitchy _ " vibe. 

"Well for one, you kick major ass," Rena explained, "Two you have good music taste, and three it's just nice to have some who always has your back." Evelyn’s ears flushed slightly red beneath her dark locks, glad she didn't pull it up into a ponytail, yet.

Evelyn hummed in response, "Same to you." she started hesitantly, unsure if she was ready to let someone into her bubble that she left closed off for so long. Evelyn was sure she was cursed because as soon as she opened up, loved someone, they usually ended up six feet under. "We should head out. We don't need fish to feed an army of bears, just one." How interesting would it be if they took back Hope County with a bunch of grizzlies, though?

“True,” Rena said laughing a bit, “Peaches might get jealous.” The cat’s tail wagged as she saw it was time to move. Upon arriving, however, the first thing noticed was the large number of dead peggies.

"Harmless teddy bear, huh?" Evelyn gripped the bucket containing the fish and gave Rena a skeptical look.

“It’s defending itself?” Rena questioned giving her a nervous laugh as they walked further down the path of dead bodies.

"I just hope it doesn't feel the need to defend itself against us," Evelyn replied anxiously.

Slowly they heard a loud growl in the distance before a peggie shouted: “There he is!"

Peaches raced forward to tackle one of the Peggies about to shoot at him, Rena hung back pulling out her handgun to shoot out some of their legs, knowing better than to try and hit anyone with a shovel at this point in the fight. Evelyn dropped the bucket and quickly took out her gun. She kept her distance from the havoc, shooting off enemies with a sniper’s precision. 

"They got back up coming in trucks!" Evelyn shouted towards her partner. "Watch for the machineguns."

"Going to cover!" Rena shouted racing behind a rock. The angry bear, wasted no time rushing past the two deputies and through the peggies. Cheeseburger mauling every cult member in its path and taking out most of the Edens Gates men. The thing was a tank. "Get em Cheeseburger!" Rena cheered watching as the bear finished them off. Evelyn stood back plucking off the strays. She looked over questionably at Rena once the men were cleared out. 

"Let's ... approach him slowly?"

"Yeah, " Rena said wiping her brow, "Start by throwing it to him?" Evelyn furrowed her brow and took slow steps closer to the bear that licked the blood of his paws. She held out the fish, a peace offering. 

"Easy boy... We are friends." Once at a reasonable distance, Evelyn tossed the fish towards him. The bear growled loudly, standing up on his hind legs. Noticing the fish, Cheeseburger fell back and sniffed the food placed in front of him. Once he started chewing at it, Evelyn looked over at Rena and jerked her head towards the bear, urging her to come closer. She did just that walking over slowly and offered her hand to him watching as he slowly sniffed it and moved to let her pet him. 

“Good boy.” She cooed rubbing behind his ears gesturing to Evelyn that it was safe. Evelyn held out her hand slowly, finger slightly trembling as she ran them across his fur, petting lightly. To her surprise, Cheeseburger obliged and leaned into her. 

"That's a good boy.." Evelyn said half-excitedly. Peaches let out a whine clearly jealous, so Rena walked over to her to give her praise for the fight. That was when their walkies went off.

“There are some girls out there,” A rough but familiar voice came through the static, “Who are pretending to be soldiers.” Evelyn squinted, lifting her eyes from Cheeseburger to share a look with her partner. Rena was clearly worried, not expecting to trigger the final seed sibling yet, “They are killing our brothers and sisters, throwing them in makeshift prisons, and putting this project in jeopardy.” 

“Lyn…” 

“I want these cowards to know that they have my attention now.” There was a slight pause, “My hunters are coming for you. There’s nowhere you can run.”

“We need to hide,” Rena told her knowing how quick they could be, shoving her headphones back into her ears, “Now.” 

From the distance, a wolf's howl echoed through the trees. “Yeah, let's go.”


	6. Torn Apart

Evelyn raced alongside Rena, hitting every branch on the way, picking up leaves and twigs with her hair. The thudding of boots and sounds of gunshots followed closely behind them. Evelyn turned around to shoot back with her pistol, shouting, “Rena keep ahead of me.” 

Rena was keeping up fine at first, her headphones lodged in her ears to avoid hearing the wolves that had been sent after them. That was until the Judges were able to catch up to them. Evelyn had no time to react or regret her decision to have Lorena lead when a judge leaped out in front of them, baring its teeth. Rena stopped dead in her tracks, headphones not able to help her with it so close, she fell backward to the ground unable to move her body any longer.

Evelyn averted her eyes towards Rena, panic hitting her hard as she watched the wolf jump advancing her partner. Spontaneously, Evelyn lunged for the judge, tumbling to the ground with it. She screamed through clenched teeth when it snapped at her arm. With her free hand, she fumbled to grab for her hunting knife and aggressively brought it to the dog's throat. She tiredly tossed the limp animal off her, panting and got up to make her way to Rena. She gripped her face, blood smearing her friend's face.

“Rena, Look at me, you gotta get up. Please-” 

“I-I can’t Lyn I’m so useless, I-I hurt you,” She told her crying curled on the ground feeling her shame swallow her whole as her trigger raged on. “Leave me, go just go don’t let them take you.” 

“No. I won’t do that, you know I can’t, Re-” Evelyn let out a weak gasp, feeling a familiar sting in her shoulder. She stumbled backward, trying to shake off the dazed feeling before falling unconscious.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Rena was only able to mutter as a soldier scooped her up into their arms, they knew the bliss wasn't needed when she was in this state. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

*******

When she came to, Pratt stood over her, adjusting the straps around her wrists. Behind him she made out three other silhouettes, seated in a similar fashion, noting that one of them had been Rena. Pratt spoke up from above her, drawing her attention, “You shouldn’t have come for me…” His hands were shaking. When he finished tying her up, he hurriedly moved off to the side. Lorena was tied in a wheelchair at the front of the room, eyes cast down, not wanting to look at Evelyn after what happened. Behind her, a projector screen was set up showing the carcass of a deer. 

“The world is weak,” Jacob began to speak hands gripping the back of Evelyn’s chair before moving to the front of the room, “Soft.” He told them as his face was caught in the gleam of the projector. Evelyn shivered. Something didn’t seem right about this Seed, he gave off a whole different vibe than the other Heralds. Cold and menacing was the closest she could think to describe him, his eyes unreadable. 

“We have forgotten what it was like to be strong,” He explained casually to the people tied up. He turned looking down at Rena and then back at Evelyn, “You know our heroes use to be gods.” The slide changed again and this time Staci was up with them standing at attention sparing a glance at Rena concerned.

“Now our heroes are godless, Weak, feeble,” He watched Evelyn as he patted the top of Rena’s head as if she was the best example he could give, “We let the weak dictate to the powerful and then we are shocked to find ourselves adrift.” He took a few steps away from Rena looking back at the group as a whole. Pictures behind them flashed, a gruesome image of a wolf hunched over a lacerated deer displayed over their faces. Evelyn shifted uncomfortably in her seat, uncertain what the man was getting at. 

A smile came on his face as he said his next line, “ But history knows the value of sacrifice. Of culling the herd so it stays strong,” He said grabbing Rena’s head with a jerk making her stare at Evelyn. Her gold eyes were filled with tears mouthing the word sorry to her, feeling her shame take over. A snarl rose up from Evelyn's chest, but not wanting to escalate the situation, Evelyn held her tongue. He let the tan girl go and continued lecturing.

“Over and over the lives of the many have outweighed the lives of the few this is how we survived. And we’ve forgotten and now the bill has come due.” He walked towards Evelyn slowly leaning down to her, “ Now the collapse is upon us, and this time the lives of the few outweigh the lives of the many.”   
“And when a nation that’s never known hunger or desperation descends into madness,” the projector changed again, “we’ll be ready.” He stepped back smiling picking up a music box off the table next to Evelyn. 

“We will cull the herd,” he told her before motioning for Staci to take Rena out of the room, “We will do what needs to be done.” He wound up the jukebox as the door shut behind them. The feeling of dread took over Evelyn as she watched her partner get dragged out the room, Evelyn pulled at the bonds, overwrought and on edge. 

“Don’t. Please.” She begged for Rena’s safety, watching as the man simply ignored her and continue to turn the key. He opened the music box and watched as she and the others in the room started to shake.

*******

_ “I'll wait, so show me why you're strong. Ignore everybody else, We're alone now.“ _

Lorena couldn’t remember what happened when she left the room, a song ringing in her head for some unknown reason. She woke up in another van this time her hands weren’t tied, and her hair had been undone yet again. She was about to get up when she saw a guard sitting directly across from her.

“Sit back down, we’re taking you back to John to finish your atonement,” He practically barked before tapping on the wall behind him. Rena glared at him before blinking as the car seemed to be slowing down, the guard got up and walked out the Van grumbling about something having gone wrong.

Lorena took a deep breath in and counted down to twenty before checking to see if the door was unlocked, knowing a good chance to get away when she saw one. The door clicked open and she began to sneak out of the van carefully. She saw guards on either side of the van but surprisingly none behind it where she was standing. Deciding not to argue with her own stupid luck she ran away from them patting herself down to find her map or a walkie, but instead found nothing but her i-pod on her person. 

"Shit," she grumbled to herself as she started to move through empty fields, seeing the sights of buildings in front of her, she decided to move towards them, hoping to ran-sack a map or a weapon. 

When she walked over to the building she searched desperately through the rooms trying to find something, _ anything _ that would make her more comfortable with the fact that the house was filled with the signs of the cult or the framed family portrait of the seeds. But there was nothing there but food and scriptures. She walked outside again this time wandering over to the other side of the house seeing the other buildings that surrounded them, catching the familiar white church in the distance her heart immediately started racing. 

“Shit, fuck shit.” She cursed to herself, teeth clenched as she saw Joseph walking out of the building surrounded by guards. Lorena started running but before she could get far she ran into the guard that was in the van with her.

“Where do you think you're going!?” He shouted trying to snatch her, pulling his pistol out of its holster with his other hand. Rena without thinking much pulled him down as he grabbed her forcing him to the ground with a loud thud. When she tried to scramble away the guard aimed and fired at her foot bring her back to the dirt with a loud thud.

“FUCK!” Rena shouted catching the attention of the men by the front of the church. She cradled her leg as the pain seared through her once less-marked leg. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” She said face scrunching refusing to cry, unable to notice the pissed off guard stepping on her right leg further, a malicious look on his face wanting to see her in tears. 

Rena only glared back up at him, “Do it.” She challenged, pain and adrenaline taking her back to the place she could only feel rage, “One more time come on! You dirty-” The guard lifted the gun, the blunt of it aimed for her head, but before he was able to bring it down, a voice called out to him. 

“You allow your wrath to control you, Brother Daniel?” Joseph stepped forth, his jaw tight. He took the man who had seemed so furious, now guilty and dejected by the shoulders, pulling him closer.

“But Father, you sai-” the man stuttered out.

“Shhh.” Joseph cut him off. “Our goal here is to lead them to salvation.” Joseph paused and cocked his head to the side, “But, we must make an example of those who wish not to abide by The Word. You must be punished and therefore must re-atone.” Joseph guided the man onto the other peggies who obediently gripped him by the arms. “Go, take him onto John.” 

Rena laid on the ground heart feeling like it was heaving to keep her aware of her surroundings. Listening as the man was dragged away, head resting against the dirt refusing to look at Joseph. Today was becoming too much for her to take, having been the reason Lyn got caught, and not even being able to escape without the help of the person she was trying to escape from. It was humiliating, she was so ashamed of herself that she finally started to cry hands cradling her face to try and stop him from seeing from staring at her again and lecturing her for wanting to help people by fighting him. She was useless, she had to be.

A “tch” sound came from his teeth as he stared at the woman with concern. Joseph crouched down and placed a hand underneath Rena, then tucked the other behind her knees. “Let’s get you fixed up, Lamb.” He lifted her up with ease and headed back into the building, a small, unnoticed smile forming on his face. Rena remained still, not trusting herself to say or do anything anymore. 

*******

Red was all Evelyn could remember. Red and an overwhelming amount of fury. She woke up on a couch, jolting up from a nightmare that had been too real. “Rena!?”

“N-n-no... I’m not Rena.” A man spoke, looking up from his book. “But, uh... E-Eli said he wanted to speak to you when you woke up.” 

Evelyn remembered him in small bits from her rescue. She rubbed the back of her neck, noticing that her arm had been bandaged up along with other cuts and gashes she couldn't recall their origin from. She exhaled and got up from the couch, heading to greet the man who helped her out of that mess. 

Eli had given her a mission, in which of course she had accepted. Another one to add to the growing pile. Along with a woman and kid named Tammy and Wheaty’s “small” requests. Evelyn felt so worn out, she rubbed her eyes with her thumb and index, trying to concentrate on how to save her friends. 

She exited the bunker, holding a hand up to her eyes that strained against the sunlight. Evelyn started walking and grabbed for her walkie, snarling into it, “Jacob.” When no response came she tried again, trying not to give away the worry in her voice. “Jacob Seed. Where is she?” She just needed to know if she was still alive at least.

"She's where she needs to be," Was all he chose to respond with at first, keeping his stoic personality consistent.

She gripped her radio tightly in one hand the other balling into a fist, “Vague. What did you do to her?” Evelyn questioned, her heart racing from vexing adrenaline. “..I will find her,” she promised.

"This is exactly why I took her from you," Jacob practically scolded, "She makes you weak, your worries, your insistent need to protect her stop you from doing what you and I both know you need to do Pup."

Evelyn let out a noise similar to a scoff, absolutely bewildered. She shook her head with confused annoyance, “Is. She. Alive?” She spoke through gritted teeth. What she had to do? Weak? Evelyn’s eyes grew dim, she could show him how _ weak _ she could be. 

"She's alive," Jacob said at last, "Whether or not that stays true no longer lies on your shoulders." Irritated with his flimsy response, Evelyn shoved the walkie back onto her belt clip and tied up her unkempt hair. She had work to do. 

***

Joseph leisurely wound up Lorena’s foot, careful hands gently cupping her heel that had been raised over his lap, his hands every now and again lingered too long. He hummed, pleased with his handiwork and set her foot down onto him.

“You may not be able to stand for a bit.” Joseph turned away from her for a moment to gather the small remaining shards that he had pulled out of her injury and place them in a bin beside him, along with bloodied tissues that scattered the coffee table. Rena was uncharacteristically quiet during the entire process, simply just staring blankly at her foot. The Peggie had managed to shot her right foot, the one that was attached to her leg that didn’t have as many frontal scars. 

She took a moment before looking up at him and stating, “So I am useless.” Joseph allowed her to continue talking, sitting quietly with his attention on her. “I-I-” She hesitated unsure whether or not it was the appropriate time to be vulnerable, “I-I didn’t do anything, I couldn’t do anything when Jacob came for us. She took a bite for me, killed it and got hit with a bullet and I couldn’t even move my arms to catch her. It’s-" Her lip quivered before her face grew calm again, "It's just a lesson. This is my fourth time being taken like this. I’m slowing her down.” Her hands bunched into fists at her side frustrated with herself for putting herself in this situation.

He inhaled and gathered his thoughts for a moment, his hands moved to her shin. “Lorena, you may see yourself as useless, but.._ .I _ see so much more in you. So much potential that _ you _ hold yourself back on. Your generosity and love for others. So willing to protect, to care. You must bring peace, not fight, Lamb.” 

“You don’t make that easy,” Rena told him sighing almost pouting as she rubbed at her eyes, hating the fact that he was the one comforting her. Joseph nodded his head in agreement, then looking off into the distance. 

“No man is perfect.” Joseph paused for a moment before continuing, “Well, without _ pain _ , there would be no suffering, without _ suffering _ we would never learn from our mistakes. That is why we must prepare for our new life. Prepare for Eden, where we learn to better ourselves. _ Learn _ to love one another. But, we must be able to overcome the hardships before.” 

“I get why you're doing it,” Rena told him in a softer tone, “But, your taking people by force, manipulating them, threatening them, drugging them. You can save people without doing all of that.” 

Joseph smiled, “It’s not as easy as you think. You’ll understand in due time, Lamb.” Joseph stopped speaking, now enjoying the silent company watching as Lorena's anxiety started to bubble talking again to fill the silence.

“What’s going to happen now?” Lorena asked looking up from her foot at his eyes, feeling more comfortable in his presence than she had before, but still rightfully cautious. “I-I can’t stay here, I have a cat now.” She tried to argue.

“It would probably be best if you did until you fully heal. I don’t believe it would be wise for you to try and walk on this.” Joseph ran his hand down from her leg back down to her foot, applying unseemingly unintentional light pressure, reminding her that it did indeed hurt a great deal. Rena let out a pained gasp shutting her eyes taking in a few breaths as the fresh wound settled down again. “That… and I don’t wish for more people to get slaughtered by merely delivering you onto your friends.” 

“I-I guess I understand that. I-" Rena stopped herself thinking on it for a moment, "-where am I staying?” She asked resigning herself to her situation reluctantly. It wasn’t like she could run away on her own anyway.

“You will be staying with me,” Joseph answered curtly, never changing his serene expression. “In my cabin. Where you will be the most secure, Lorena.” He tenderly lowered her foot to the ground and stood up from the couch. Lorena frowned at the news she'd be staying in his house but decided not to argue knowing she was just going to be moved wherever he wanted her to the next few days.

“I have to tell Evelyn I’m okay, she must be worried sick. Can I have a walkie?” Rena asked watching as he moved, remembering how immobile she was once more.

“Of course, I’ll see if I can get communication set up for you to contact her. Unfortunately, the walkies don’t work for those far out from the island.” Joseph walked into the kitchen, still able to keep an eye on Rena. Her eyes lit up at his willingness to let her speak to Lyn before he changed the subject, asking “Are you hungry, I can make you a sandwich if you like?” 

"Oh, sure," Rena said knowing she'd be able to watch him make it from where she was sitting and to watch if things started to glow green.

***

“Sorry, it took so long, Nick,” Evelyn started stepping out of the yellow plane. She closed the door behind her. Right after helping Eli with rescuing some resistance hostages, Evelyn made her way back to Holland Valley to retrieve “Carmina” (Nick had called it), not holding back on “sparing” the men that guarded John Seeds place this time. Regrettably, she didn’t have time to clear the whole area out, so lucky for him, he could keep his little domicile for a little while longer.

"Well shit Lyn," Nick told her coming out to look the plane over patting it affectionately, "That's okay that bastard Seed took you guys right? I had half a thought of running in there and doing something when Jerome came by."

“Yeah, Lot of stuff went down. Ended paying his big brother a visit after and made things a bit more complicated.” Evelyn spoke, her eyes fixed somewhere else.

"Wait a minute where is that little pipsqueak you brought over last time?" He asked her, clueless to what happened when they were last kidnapped.

She furrowed her brow, “She got taken by Jacob. I uh… I don’t know where she is, but I don’t think he has her.” Evelyn started. “Right now the best I can do is build up our team of resistance and keep hitting them where it hurts. Until one of them hands them over.” She followed after him, helping push the plane around. 

“Shit,” Nick said looking her over, understanding now why she looked even more exhausted than the last time he saw her. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help, I owe you one.”

“I will," Evelyn said curtly wanting to change subjects fast. "How’s your wife holding up?” Evelyn grunted, leaning against the aircraft after they managed to turn it. “Are you guys still heading out of Hope County?”

“She’s close to popping,” Nick told her leaning next to her wiping his brow, “We’ve decided to stay until she has the kid, not risk moving until after she’s recovered.” 

“I wanted to know, If its not too much. Can I borrow Carmina to blow up the statue?” Evelyn plainly stated.

Nick blinked at that before smiling, “Aw hell yeah I don’t mind, you want me to come with ya?” 

“For sure. I could use your pilot skills.” Evelyn smirked before entering the plane. “To Henbane.” 

“Kim I’ll be back in an hour!” Nick shouted back at the house before starting up the plane. “Let’s teach those Seeds who not to fuck with.” 

***

Rena stared at herself in the mirror trying to see if she could magically pull the short dress over her legs and over all of the scars she usually tried to hide. It wasn’t a bad [ dress ](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/26/10/ef/2610efa516f21ab4bdd9c7dd3969a5e3.jpg), it was white with a corset style front, and the bodice was lacy while it hung off her shoulders. She was trying not to think about how and why it fit her perfectly or how it made her look so fragile. There were no pants in the closet he already had ready for her, just a bunch of light blue, yellow and white dresses. Some of them were a little longer but they were too far out of her reach for her to hobble over and then hobble back. Joseph made it clear this morning when he laid out the dress for her to wear, at the edge of the bed where she could reach it without getting up on her bad foot. 

The entire situation was very foreign to her, having not been taken care of like this since she was 10. He was very attentive and tender with her and it was starting to make her grow flustered. As if to prove this, outside in the hall, Joseph glanced at the clock on the wall and wrapped his knuckles lightly against her closed door. 

“Lorena? Are you having any trouble?” He went silent for a minute, unsure if he should even ask, “Do you need my assistance?” He placed a hand on the doorknob, ready to open it if she didn’t respond. 

“No,” Rena said immediately stopping herself from fiddling with the dress anymore as she dropped down from her perch on the bed, bad foot lifted so she could hop over slowly. “I-I’m dressed, just give me a second,” She told him, moving towards it not wanting to get into why she was delayed or the anxieties behind showing her legs. 

“We must be on our way, Lamb. I need to start the sermon soon.” He spoke softly through the door, not urging her to hurry, but reminding her. 

“You could always just leave me here,” Rena told him grabbing her iPod before she forgot it, “It’s not like I can really run away.” 

“You aren’t trapped here, Lamb. I don’t want you to feel like you are constricted and limited to where you can and can’t be.” He waited patiently until she gave him the go-ahead to come in. “Besides, you may come to enjoy the sermon.” At that point, Rena had opened the door and gave him a doubtful look.

Joseph stepped back, taking her in eyes openly stopping at her now accentuated curves. He murmured, “You look… divine.” Joseph had been dressed no differently than before, black slacks and familiar shades, no formal getup like Rena. “Come.” Joseph took her expeditiously into his arms, a way of travel he’d expect her to grow comfortable with. He moved swiftly down the stairs placing her into a wheelchair and stepping behind it. Rena sighed with relief as she settled into the wheelchair, she wasn’t sure what she would have done if Joseph decided to carry her into the church. 

“Maybe I should get some crutches? For around the house? So I can move?” Rena offered meekly in suggestion. 

“Of course, I’ll see what I can do.” Joseph hummed and wheeled her outside, the sun peeked over the horizon, only waking up itself. He quietly pushed her until they got closer to the church where he had to stop and greet his followers that waited so patiently for his arrival along with Faith and his brothers. Rena visibly shrunk at the sight of the crowd, feeling her nerves build at the idea of the crowd turning on them, in an instant, they recognized who she was. Joseph was instantly swarmed by his flock and few strays took notice of the woman in the wheelchair. 

“Isn’t that the deputy, why did the Father bring her here? She has done nothing but helps destroy all that we have worked for.” One harshly whispered while Joseph was guided away from her by the project members.

“You shouldn’t question the Father, Sister Lydia. He has reasons for everything.” A man piped in, crossing his arms in disapproval. 

A younger female who seemed to be around her twenties chided in, “Perhaps she is the Mother he spoke of?” 

Lydia spoke harshly again, “I sure as hell hope not. The woman is a mess, what good will she be providing for the flock?” Lydia whispered harshly, enough for Lorena to overhear. 

“Good music,” Rena told her looking back in her direction, snipping fast not having it. The woman was about to yell back at the handicapped Deputy when the youngest Herald cut her off. Faith rushed over to Lorena’s side, seemingly unaware of the venomous comments and sharp looks Rena had been receiving.

“Lorena, You look so beautiful!” She gestured to the outfit. “I helped pick out the dress! Do you like it?” Faith clasped her hands together in front of her, eagerly waiting for a response. 

Rena flushed at her compliments, “Ah, thank you, you’re really pretty today too Faith.” Faith looked down modestly, her cheeks tinted pink. Rena looked back down at her legs, pausing a bit before answering her question, “It is really detailed, comfortable and light,” and _ short. “ _It's nice,” She chose to say giving her a small smile.

“It suits you well. The Father had asked for you to look your Sunday best today.” Faith joked. “Are you excited?”

“I haven’t been to church since I was younger when my mom stopped going, I stopped,” She explained, “Is there anything I should know before I make a fool of myself more?” 

Faith swayed, placing an index finger to her chin. “Hmmm.. Not really. Sometimes we are asked to stand up. Everything’s not that hard to follow. I’m sure the Father won’t mind if you choose to just observe today.” Faith stepped behind her when the crowd started entering into the church, grabbing the handles and pushing her inside. “I’ll sit next to you.” she chirped. 

“That would actually be really nice,” Lorena told her looking back and giving her a small smile. Faith seemed like she was always trying to be helpful if there was anyone in the Seed family that she trusted the most it would be her. And to top it off, she had already proven to be a great support when she was triggered. The church had been the same it was the night she had arrested him. However, there was a better mood and lighting now that it was morning. Joseph stood behind a pew waving his hand with every word, a book held open in the other. 

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” Joseph stated, the crowd seated in front of him nodding along. “It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hope, always perseveres.” 

Lorena gulped trying hard to shift her body in the chair to be as close to Faith as possible. The sermon and rhetoric were about what she expected from Joseph after their talks, if not a bit more focused on compassion. But the person beside her made it hard for her to think about any of the differences in tone Joseph had, filling her thoughts with what happened the night before and where Evelyn might be. Faith glanced to the side and squeezed Rena’s fingers reassuringly, who had been sitting between her and Jacob. 

“Are you alright?” she whispered, noticing Rena’s slight discomfort.

“Ah,” Rena squeezed her hand back unable to help herself, “Yeah, I-it's just a lot at once.” She told her in a soft voice not wanting to lie or have to explain herself.

Joseph continued, “All of us are desperately searching for some approval from a light above and why? Where is _ our confidence _ ? Where is _ our faith _ ?” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I have _ confidence _ . I have _ faith _ . Let _ me _ be the well that you drink from to _ fill _ yourself up. I am your father, and you are my children.” Joseph surveyed the room, eyes falling onto Rena, he smiled at her before breaking eye contact to push on with his fluent speech. Rena let out a sigh, picking up on what he was trying to tell his people, and not so subtly her. 

She looked back over at Jacob before whispering to him, “Is she alright? Does she know I’m okay?” Jacob looked down at her like she was a bug for a moment, before catching Faith’s hands-on hers and letting out an annoyed sigh. 

“She’s fine, learned how to cull. Pay attention.” He scolded. Rena gave him a nod before doing just that. 

“What are we all whispering about?” John asked his brother, giving a pout that he was left out of their bonding. 

“Nothing John, focus,” Jacob told him shaking his head patting his shoulder much more tender around his younger brother. 

“...and together, we shall walk to Eden's Gate.” Joseph finished, the crowd praising him with ‘amens’. If it couldn’t get any more unbearable for Rena, the crowd began to sing.

“_ In the west shall rise, The sinisters creed, The rich will get what they want, _”

Rena had to fight herself from rolling her eyes as soon as the cult music came out of the congregation itself, this time off the pitch and off time, making it even more unbearable than usual. Without much hesitation, she grabbed her headphones and placed them in her ears pressing play on her shuffle to escape the Peggie madness.

***** **

“And you think a pyromaniac will help me get my friends back?” She asked Nick with a slight waver in her voice, watching as he expertly dipped down and landed smoothly next to a trailer park. “When I asked if you knew anyone that could fight, I was expecting you to recommend me an ex veteran or something?” 

“He’s better than an ex veteran, they couldn’t keep this guy in prison because he kept setting shit on fire,” Nick explained through their radio before he popped out of the plane, “He’s wanted to take down the cult for a few months now.” 

“I don’t think you're making this guys case any better, Nick.” Evelyn bluntly retorted, striding up beside him.

“Come on, he’s been on the radio all day, trying to get someone to come over,” Nick told her motioning for them to go into the trailer park, “Least we could do is say ‘hi’.” Evelyn didn’t want to push Nick for more questions and reasons why he thought this was a good idea, instead, she quietly followed beside him, keeping an open mind. Sharky stood on top of one of the Trailers, shooting out streams of fire just for fun, standing next to what looked like a speaker system. 

“Hey, you guys come for my barbeque!?” 

“Oh boy,” Evelyn muttered. She lifted a hand up to greet him before taking the ladder up to the roof where he had been standing. Her eyes fell to the massive fuel tank strapped to his back. That couldn’t be safe. “Sure, you uh needed help with something?” she asked hesitantly. 

“Rookie here is really good at taking people out she was a cop-” Nick started to explain before that clearly set the man off.

“Officer I was just here minding my own business, if you have a problem with me you first have to bring it up to with my parole officer,” Sharky told Evelyn fast.

“I’m barely a cop anymore. Kinda, just trying to survive?” she said scratching at her bandages.

“Oh well, in that case, my name is Charlemagne Victor Boshaw IV, now if you require more brevity in your day to day life you can just call me Sharky.” He told her giving her nod.

“Evelyn.” She said promptly, before looking around. The place was the equivalent to a junkyard and looked to be long abandoned. “You don’t, live here? Do you?”

“This is my disco inferno, my special place where I can just be me, without the prying eyes of my PO, or witnesses, or law enforcement types such as yourself.” He turned and raised his hands as if showing the place off, “Here is where I am free to unleash my fire and mayhem in pants free, consequence-free environment.”

“Um, Shark,” Nick started but Sharky cut him off.

“I have pants on now, yes but who knows what the next hour and forty-five minutes hold,” Sharky said perfectly seriously.

He seemed, lovely.

*******

Once the oration was over, Joseph met back up with Lorena who had been chatting with Faith for a few minutes. He politely interrupted, “What did you think?” 

Lorena looked at him, giving him a nervous smile, “It was...interesting.” She decided on, “I see why a lot of people come to you guys.” She said directing the conversation away from her opinions, as cleverly as she could, “If you guys existed when I was younger, I might have wandered in.” 

Joseph gave her a delighted look, “And we would've taken you in with open arms.” He stepped behind her, “How would you care to join me for a picnic? We can go no-” Before he had a chance to finish, a Peggie holding onto a large shotgun confronted him, whispering into his ear. The words “_ sinner _ ” and “ _ statue _” were the only words Rena made out. 

Joseph's pleasant attitude diminished, replaced with a dark and forbidding glare, “Faith.”

Faith blatantly flinched, “Y-Yes, Father?” She stood up straight, hands held together behind her. 

“Henbane needs your presence... You are losing your handle over your region. I thought you had things under control over there, Faith.” Joseph turned to her, stepping close and gripping her shoulders tightly. 

“I’m sorry, Father,” she croaked, looking down at her bare feet.

“Don’t scold her,” Rena couldn’t help but say defending her not liking the shift in the atmosphere between the two of them. It felt too close to her childhood. “She was here, listening to you following whatever traditions you guys keep. It's not her fault she wasn’t there when she needed to be.” 

“No, It was my fault, Rena,” Faith cut her off hurriedly looking panicked. “I should have planned out more.” Rena gave her a soft frown, reading the tone picking up that it was better not to press her on this. Joseph stared at them wordlessly, then turned his focus back to Faith. 

“Don’t disappoint me again. Go,” Joseph loosened his hold on her pointing in the direction of Henbane river. He turned to Rena, “I will take you back _ home _. I’m going to have to postpone the picnic until later. I’m sorry, for now, feel free to relax until I finish some work.” 

“Okay,” Rena told him, not like the fact that he referred to it as home, and not his home. “It’s not a big deal.” She tried to tell him, not in a rush to see where the picnic was going to take place. 

*******

Evelyn tossed another sticky bomb towards the moving cult vehicle, jumping away for cover. She popped up from behind and was greeted by silence. 

“I think that was the last of them.” She got up from the ground dusting herself off and made her way back to Sharky. “You should probably take a look at your speaker systems before trying that again.” She smirked, the whole ordeal reminding her of the time Rena hooked her iPod up back at Baron Lumber Mill. Rena would probably like this guy. 

“Yeah, I’m still working out the kinks,” He admitted laughing nervously, “But that was fun, I wish more cops were like you, dude.” 

“I admit you are pretty good with that flamethrower. I wouldn't mind if you tagged along,” Evelyn hoped she wouldn’t regret saying that. “But, right now I got to touch base with some of the resistance members. I’ll catch you both later.”

“See you, Eve!” Sharky shouted practically bouncing from how excited he was by all of this. Nick laughed waving to both of them before heading home to Kim. She hadn’t made it very far before a blast of green dust was blown into her face and that familiar sense of dizziness overcame her. 

Evelyn woke up in a lush green misty field, dazed and confused, Faith smiled, fixed in front of her. 

“I know you heard stories about me, that I'm a_ liar _ . A _ manipulator _ .” Faith spoke directly to her, but the voice echoed around Evelyn as if the woman had been surrounding her. Faith giggled and pulled Evelyn’s hand, moving the deputy forward. “That I poison people’s minds. Is that what you think I’m doing to _ Rena _?” Faith tilted her head as if expecting Evelyn to respond. She let out a light laugh and shook her head.

“Well, let me tell you a story. A_ true _ story.” Faith began to run, holding both of Evelyn’s hands. She stopped and pulled her to the ground with her. “There once was a young woman, who had been ostracized by her community. _ Bullied _ by her friends. Abused by _ her family _ .” Faith looked down, considering speaking forward, “She took to a needle for help. She was all alone. She wanted to _ die _. But, then she met, The Father.” Faith pulled Evelyn up and motioned to the statue. 

Evelyn squinted at the giant monument and laughed to herself. How did they build that back up so fast? 

“He gave her hope and confidence. The Father showed her how special she was. That she was full of love and life. He gave her a new family, one that accepted her, just as she was. The young woman no longer wished to die. She had been given purpose.” Evelyn realized she was floating upwards to the statue and perched on the tip of the book alongside a man she met before. She tried to talk to him, but her tongue was numb and heavy. 

“The path to Eden is clear to those who have faith.” Faith flew backward, her green wings fluttering hypnotically. 

Burke turned to Evelyn and held out his hand. “Walk the path rook.” He said and jumped into the abyss.

Evelyn wobbled closer to the edge, peering down. She didn’t mull it over, thinking of the life she had before the bliss, all of the hardships and expectations left for her. She had no family, and she was the reason Rena had been captured, after all, she wasn’t strong enough to protect her. She looked back down and figured it wouldn’t make a difference even if she didn’t survive, and she took the last step and leaped. 

*******

Rena laid in bed headphones in her ears as she stared at the ceiling of her room. Joseph had yet to come back from his “business”, which of course left her with limited mobility. She could wobble around the second floor but going down the stairs was not an option. She was still in the dress, not sure where the t-shirt she had slept last night had gone. She got up slowly and carefully making her way to the hallway, where there was a balcony pointing away from the rest of the community and towards the Montana scenery. 

She carefully walked outside, i-pod in hand, glad to see that there were comfortable chairs with cushions, where she claimed her seat at first. The song playing ended and the familiar bass line of [ Redbone ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp7eSUU9oy8) by Childish Gambino came on. When it started to play and Rena’s head started to bop losing herself to the music as she closed her eyes and felt the breeze. 

“_ Daylight, I wake up feeling like you won't play right,” _ Rena sang lightly mostly to herself out of habit when she listened to songs she really liked, “ _ I used to know, but now that shit don't feel right, It made me put away my pride.” _

When Joseph reached the front door, his ears were filled with sweet tones of his little lamb. Quietly but hastily, he shoved his keys into the lock and crept his way through _ their _ house, taking small slow steps up the stairs.

_ “If you want it, yeah, you can have it, If you need it, We can make it, If you want it ..” _ Eyes still closed she hummed the rest of it until the chorus came getting up carefully to move to lean on the balcony’s fence, “ _ But stay woke, They be creepin', They gon' find you, Gon' catch you sleepin',” _ She tapped her good foot and sang louder feeling comfortable again, “ _ Now don't you close your eyes.” _

When he reached the room, he saw her standing, back face to him and leaned up against the balcony. For a moment he couldn’t bring himself to move. Lorena was singing and it was _ breathtaking. _ Her voice was so _ innocent _ , so _ pure, _ so _ angelic. _ Joseph couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. A voice like that was heaven-sent, this was a sign, a reminder that he was on the right path, that while Rena was still lost, he would be the one to bring his lamb home, as God willed it.

He stepped closer and she hadn’t heard him approach, so lost in her own world. Soft, gentle and loving. Heavenly. 

_ His _.

_ “Too late,” _ Rena’s voice rang out clean and clear, “ _ You wanna make it right, but now it's too late. My peanut butter chocolate cake with Kool-Aid, I'm trying not to waste my time.” _ She smiled before singing the chorus of the song again, opening her eyes to look at the landscape again.

Joseph sighed contently, as he came closer. All the stress he felt before coming home now vanished from him. This was meant to be. This was God’s will. He would guide her on the right path and they will walk hand in hand through Eden’s Gate. Joseph wrapped his arms around Rena gently and nuzzled into the crook of her neck, his breath tickling the soft flesh. 

Rena stilled a shiver running up her spine as she yanked her headphones out of her ears before seeing Joseph’s sunglasses out of the corner of her eyes, “Y-You scared me.” She told him unsure what he was doing. He didn’t smell of alcohol, so he couldn’t be drunk doing this.

“You are divine, my love.” Joseph breathed.

“L-love?” Rena stammered stepping slowly away from him, letting out a hiss as she forgot about her injured foot, her face scrunched as she leaned back on the balcony for support.

Joseph’s grip tightened on her, “Be careful Lamb, you know you are not fully healed.” He made a “tch” noise, scolding her for her recklessness and pulled Rena up into his arms effortlessly ignoring the small resistance she gave leaning away from him. “Come, let us rewrap your bandages and make something for you to eat.” Rena was fully flushed again staring at him, wondering if she had just misheard him.


	7. Fun in the Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Set up a Tumblr, for the story here's a link https://ataleoftworooks.tumblr.com/
> 
> Another short chapter but again, a longer one is going to follow it. I hope you all enjoy.

When Evelyn woke up at the bottom of the of Joseph statue that was no more than a mangled effigy, she had been surrounded with bodies of the people that didn’t make the “ _ Leap of faith _ ”. Disturbed, she decided that maybe John was actually the easiest to handle first and had made her way to Holland Valley. Brainwashing, wolves, animals not being what they really are, and getting drugged was just all too much to handle in the past two weeks. With Holland Valley, at least she could understand what the fuck went on over there.

“You’ll have to give me some tips on shooting later, Grace,” Evelyn stated after the church had been cleared of peggies who had tried their damndest to desecrate the veteran graves. Evelyn threw her rifle back over her shoulder. Evelyn looked at her Tagalog, Sharky, who surprisingly was more easy to get along with than she had realized. He was trying his hardest to put out the flames that lit an American flag that laid across one of the large tombstones. 

“Sorry about that..” Evelyn said, sheepishly. 

Grace let out a tense sigh before shaking her head, “It’s fine, I owe you one for coming over and helping me defend this.” 

“My bad,” Sharky told her finally smothering the flame, “A Peggie leads me to it.” 

“Well, if you ever need help I’m down to come out and help you two take those bastards out,” Grace told them offering her hand to Lyn to shake. “Let’s just burn their flags next time.” 

Evelyn let out a genuine chuckle and shook it.

“Alright..” Evelyn pulled out her map and pointed to a location. “It’s a little bit away, but we can probably make it there in one and a half hours on foot. I had a call from some guy saying they had a bunch of people hold up here. The O’Hara house, you ever heard of it?” She turned to her companions an eyebrow raised. 

“You mean the serial killer O’Hara?” Grace asked raising a brow, she heard that the Room had a death wish but she didn't believe it until now.

“The who now?” Sharky asked looking at the map immediately concerned.

“A serial killer? Great, like we weren’t dealing with enough crazy.” Evelyn pitched in, though she still seemed set on going.   
“Yeah, there were rumors that he put himself in this spooky place, just to watch the chaos,” Grace told them chuckling a bit at Sharky's scared reaction.

“Looks like we got a mystery on our hand’s gang.” Evelyn quipped, her face and tone too serious to match the delivery of her joke. “Let’s roll Sharky.”

“Um, yeah sure,” Sharky told her clearly not as enthusiastic about this trip. 

They pulled up to the house. Well, barn. Evelyn figured the building with the flashy advertisement for a “Spooky experience” was probably where they had to go through to get to their destination. She gave Sharky a questioning look and opened the metal door, that didn’t seem like it was part of the original architecture of the house. “After you?” Evelyn tease. 

“Eve I’m gonna level with ya’, what about we don’t go in?” He said pressing his hands together as if it was a remarkable idea, “Hell we could get Nick to drop us at the top!”

Evelyn shrugged, “We’d have to wait even longer for him to get here. I’m sure it’s not that bad, Shark.” Evelyn stepped in, still holding the door for him. “Don’t worry. I got your six.”

“Isn’t that what they say in movies right before things go wrong, at least they used to,” Shark argued following in after her, sure as hell not leaving her by herself to face the nightmare of the house.

"Maybe, you watch too many movies." Evelyn shrugged. "Hopefully it's not going to be like the one with the doll and puzzles. What was that movie called?" Evelyn scrunched up her face trying to remember. She rarely watched movies. Sharky had been dumbfounded when she said she had never seen a Fast and the Furious movie once in her life, after not understanding his references. Making a promise to  _ force _ her to watch it, since it was his favorite, after shit cooled down. 

"Saw!" Sharky told her, "And this set up looks like one of those warehouses where he'd set up his traps! Eve we're prime candidates for this bullshit come on," He whined trying to grab her hand and pull her back outside. However, once both of them had entered, the door slammed shut behind them, locking right away. 

“Guess the only back, is forward," Evelyn told him shrugging and moving along. 

“Did I tell you that I don’t do well with ghosts?” Sharky told her looking ahead of them, “ You can’t kill a ghost with fire or bullets.” 

“You’re scared of  _ ghosts _ ?” Evelyn cocked a brow at him, a hint of a smirk showing. Evelyn started walking down a dark corridor, a single light bulb above them flicked menacingly and fake blood dripped from the walls. Evelyn tried not to roll her eyes. She reached for her flashlight and flicked it on.

“Yes, spirits and whatnots,” Sharky told her, “See, Chica being cocky is what gives those fuckers the advantage, they're gonna get me, cause they won't touch you, you’re clearly the survivor.

“It’s an abandoned horror attraction. There’s no ghosts, no tortured spirits, and no serial kil-” Before she could finish saying her sentence a body flinged itself towards them, moving robotically, all the while nearby speakers set off a loud angry scream. “Gah!” Sharky shouted moving forward when it sprung to defend Evelyn.

“See this is shit I’m talking about, jump scares always getting you.” Evelyn exhaled wearily and took a closer look at the display. 

“You’re fighting a crazy cult, Sharky. How is that...” She pointed out, “...any worse?” Evelyn squinted and leaned closer. The body was real and fresh. Splayed up for one's enjoyment to metal mechanisms piercing through dead flesh. What sick bastard did this? “Let’s keep moving.” Evelyn pulled out her gun. 

“Does it smell in here or is it just me?” Sharky asked doing as told smelling his pits as they walked. Evelyn gave her companion a perturbed look. Unsure if telling him about the situation, but not wanting to make him even more bothered. 

“The bodies-” A long roar ran out and a taxidermy bear shout out from behind a secret moving wall. 

Startled Sharky immediately shot at it, "They are really lucky I left my flame thrower in the car." He took a deep breath in, "What was it you were saying Short stuff?"

“Nothing let’s keep moving.” Evelyn gave him a sympathetic smile. When they finally reached the attic, mannequins, and camera’s surrounded a single rusty bed frame, blood-drenched the floor below it. A single table was positioned in the middle of the room, placed on the table was a T.V set on a static channel and an old telephone. As soon as they stepped closer, it rang. Evelyn reached for it hesitantly looking over to Sharky for his opinion.

"Seven days," Was all Sharky said in warning. She ignored him, not understanding the reference, and picked it up and slowly placed it to her ear.

“Hello?” From the other end, only a burst of high laughter echoed. When that continued for way too long, she placed the phone back down on the receiver. “It was a waste of time,” she said, straightfaced. Evelyn shook her head frustratingly. "What the hell was the point of all this? To go through a psychopath’s strange and sick game?" Saying this she picked up a stray broken mannequin head and observed it, only noticing the centipede crawl out of the hole when it reached her hand. Instinctively she chucked the head away and shook her hand, letting out an odd loud and out of character noise that was supposed to be a scream. 

"Woah Eve, what happened?" Sharky said racing over to her grabbing her shoulders and guiding her further back away from the mannequin head as if he expected it to be demonic. 

Evelyn laughed it off, "I uh… Did that thing where you pinch your finger really good and it hurts more than it should?" Her ears flushed at how foolish she seemed.

“Yes and it doesn’t sound like that,” Sharky told her raising a brow, “You’re a really shit liar Eve what happened?”

"It was, just a bug.”

“A bug?! After all that shit a bug is what gets the big bad dep scared?” Sharky asked big wide smirk on his face. “What happened to we’re fighting peggies that should be the scariest thing?” 

“Let's just get the hell out of here," Evelyn stated red-faced, defeated. 

"I am so happy that you said that," Sharky told her patting her back letting it go for her own comfort, "I ever told you about the madness that is the Tokyo Drift movie?"

*******

Rena was understandably more on edge living in Joseph seed’s house. Between the constant eye contact and inspection of her healing process, it was hard to hold back what she really wanted to say to him. When she was stuck with her family she would write in a journal to keep herself sane, but she doubted Joseph would respect her privacy enough not to read it himself.

Thankfully there were some days that he had to leave to tend to things, and she was able to see Faith or John would stop by to check on her take a picture of her to prove that she was alive and well to Joseph during the day. Today was one of those days, and Rena was seated downstairs at the kitchen table with a book in front of her along with a mug of tea, again in a  [ dress ](https://pin.it/sspynn6udykmf5) she would normally never wear. Thankfully enough this one covered most of the scars on her legs, and the yellow color complimented her eyes. It was a short sleeve and had nice white flowers detailing the fabric. Faith swung opened the front door, practically skipping to Rena, she was frequently in charge of visiting and keeping Rena's spirits up and the two had gotten very friendly with each other because of it.

“Joseph’s going to be busy all day, so you know what that means.” Faith was seen only calling  _ The Father _ , Joseph, around Rena and overall seemed much more relaxed when he wasn’t around. “We should go swimming! There's a lake not too far from here.” She took a seat, knees first, across from Rena, and tilted the book down with one finger, so she could see the Rook's face. Rena blinked flushing at her attention-catching the sparkle in her green eyes and getting lost for a minute. 

“Ah sorry I just wanted to finish the page.” She explained meekly, before smiling at her. “Are you sure that’s okay? I’m not sure if I’d be good at that right now.” She told her before biting her lip, not wanting to pass up the opportunity to leave the house. “But we could try. Do I have a swimsuit?” Rena asked her unsure knowing Faith was in charge of buying most of her clothes.

“Well...no,” Faith began, feeling a bit dejected. “I’m sure there's got to be a swimsuit somewhere or something to substitute. If not we could just swim in our underwear?” Faith smiled with small mischief, “It’s basically the same thing, hm?”Lorena blushed at the idea of seeing Faith in her underwear but quickly sipped her tea trying to shove the thought down.

"Ah, I guess you're right. What harm could it do right?" She told her returning her smile. "I need fun, day out anyway. It gets so boring here on most days." Faith let out a small excited squeak and took Rena by the hands, pulling her out of her seat and into her wheelchair 

“Let’s go!” Rena couldn’t help but laugh as she was wheeled out of the house with Faith. When they got there, the lake was serene and the area quiet. Trees stood tall, giving them privacy from onlookers. Faith walked to the edge, dipping her feet in to test the water. “It feels really nice. I’ve actually never been swimming before.” Faith admitted embarrassed. “I don’t even know If I  _ can _ swim.” 

“What?” Rena asked blinking as she finished wrapping a plastic bag over her bandaged foot to keep it somewhat dry. “Isn’t it dangerous for us to be doing this then?” She blinked concerned for her.

“Nah.” With that being said, Faith immediately lifted her dress off over her head and tossed it to the side. She climbed up a moderate-sized boulder, “Dare me to jump?” She teased, but before Rena had time to answer or even shake her head, Faith had already taken the leap, causing a big splash in the water. 

Rena swiftly tossed her dress to the side and walked over to the edge to check and see if she was okay. A few moments passed and Faith didn’t return to the surface. 

“Faith!” Rena shouted as she sat down on the edge searching for her. When she didn’t get a response back Rena dropped into the water diving in without thinking in search of her. Faith burst through the surface moments after, her face not distressed but filled with unbridled joy. She waited for Rena to come back up and giggled.

“Aw, you really do care. My hero.” She taunted, moving her limbs through the water like a professional. 

“You scared me,” Rena told her pouting splashing her slightly, “And of course I do, you’re like the nicest person to me here.” Faith splashed back and laughed, her face dropping quickly at the unexpected compliment. She froze, unsure of how to respond. 

“Wha-” 

“Some days I don't even understand why you’re here,” Rena told her honestly cutting her off as she treads the water pushing the hair out of her own face. “You’re sweet, and really attentive when you’re not trying to give me a heart attack.” 

“You… honestly believe that?” Faith sunk down into the water, up to her nose to hide the sudden shade of red.

"Of course I do," Rena told her, after spending time with her out of the Bliss, Rena always felt lighter. She loved watching her smile getting her to giggle when they held hands. She was starting to realize that she might have a crush on her, but she just didn't know what to do with that. Faith blew bubbles then rose back up, a serious look on her face.

“Josep-, The Father he  _ helped _ me, Rena I was a coward. So alone and scared. He gave me purpose, a reason to keep living.” When Rena heard her hesitations she swam forward and took one of her hands into her own without thinking, knowing it's how Faith always chose to comfort her. 

"I'm glad you got help when you needed it, I'm just sorry your in charge of so much." Faith continued her familiar smile that never reached her eyes returning to her face. 

"Lorena, If you walk the path. Trust  _ us _ , trust The Father, you'll understand." She swam closer, tucking a wet lock of hair behind Rena's ear. “We can help you.”

Rena's face flushed as she stared into Faith's eyes still seeing the panic there, "Is he hurting you?" She asked without hesitation cupping her face. Faith looked back at Rena, searching her eyes frantically for reliance. 

"No-No of course not," She stammered. "Rena... I-"

"When I heal, you should run away with me," Rena told her stepping closer trying to convey how serious she was, "You don't deserve to be yelled at just because he saved you once. You’re better than all of this. I...me and Evelyn could protect you, disguise you. Let me help you please?" Rena asked letting go of her face not wanting to threaten or pressure her.

"I can't do that. This is my purpose. Eden's Gate. I'm  _ saving _ people, Rena. I'm  _ helping _ them." Faith hugged herself. "Even If I did join you. They'll find me." 

Rena sighed moving to hug her seeing her distress, "It's okay, I just wanted to ask. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stress you out."

Faith mimicked her, wrapping her arms back around Rena. "No. It's alright. I just- " Faith exhaled and shook her head. "I don't want to disappoint him, again." 

Rena paused before looking her over, "Maybe, before I go I walk the path to keep you out of trouble?" Rena told her wanting to help, "Or I could sneak in to visit." She told her trying to make sure she knew she didn't want to abandon her, she pulled back to look over her eyes. 

"You really, want to walk the path?" Faith looked up from her sulking mood-changing immediately to eager. 

“If it helps you,” Lorena told her nodding glad she was cheering up again, “I trust you.” She decided, before giving her a nervous smile.

"I could kiss you right now! You won't regret this, Rena." 

“Ah..” Rena’s face grew extremely red at the thought, “If it means I get to spend more time with you it's just a bonus right?” 

Faith raised an eyebrow, "You are blushing, Rena." Faith let out another giggle before leaning closer. "Do you want to kiss me?" 

Lorena felt herself shrink a bit as she followed her lead tucking in close, “Maybe.” She told her sheepishly pressing their foreheads together, “If that’s something you want too.” She explained in a softer voice following her nerves.

"I mean, I suppose It's the most I could do for  _ my _ hero." She smirked and bit her bottom lip before closing the space between them, their lips nearly grazing before-

"Is this how you repay my trust? Faith?" Joseph stood at the edge of the lake, shoes barely touching the water. "Come here." Joseph held out a hand to her, his jaw clenched.

Faith let go of Rena instantly, sealed her lips shut, and began to make her way to him. She stepped out of the water, her head down. She stumbled her words out quickly, "Father, I just wanted to give Rena some fresh air. She's been kept up in th-" 

" _ Hush _ ," Joseph grabbed Faith by the shoulders and pressed his forehead to hers. His lips moved, but Rena was unable to make out what was being said. 

“It was my idea!” Rena tried to shout not liking the depressing slump of Faith’s shoulders. She quickly pulled herself from the water, glad that she still had strong arms, and grabbed her dress to pull over herself. 

"Lorena," Joseph warned, giving her a disapproving glance before he released Faith, she picked up her dress that lay crumpled in the dirt and walked back towards the compound, avoiding eye contact with Lorena. Lorena felt her anxiety growing for her as she watched Faith leave staring at the ground. "Let's go," Joseph turned his back to Rena, expecting her to follow grip tight on the handlebars of the wheelchair Rena slowly stood up, squeezing out her hair, hesitating before hopping over to sit keeping her eyes on the ground.

*******

"How did that look from down there?" Evelyn shouted in her walkie, as she soared past the remaining pieces of the YES sign that crumbled to the ground.

“Hell yeah!” Shark said back into the radio, “Show that Seed what for!” 

"This will definitely get his blood boiling," Evelyn responded back confidently. "Alright I'm heading down, see you in a few."

“ _ Deputy, so glad to have you back _ ,” John practically spat out the radio, “ _ You had me worried you forgot about me _ .”

"That was quicker than I expected." Evelyn taunted. She flipped a switch and started heading for the ground level. "How could I forget about all the lovely times we've had together?" 

“ _ Mmm of course _ ,” John hummed, “ _ You are due for your confession, though we did get a head start. How is Cleo _ ?” 

Evelyn froze, staring muddled at the radio. What the hell, did she tell him about her cat? Was it when she was drugged? What else did she divulge to him while she had been under the influence of bliss? She cleared her thoughts and replied hurriedly, not wanted him to have the satisfaction of knowing he had made her uncomfortable. 

"She's fine. Thanks." Well, she really hoped she was. She never had the time to go back to her tiny apartment in the middle of a warzone.

“ _ As much as I’d  _ ** _love_ ** _ to hear you say yes to me, and keep this going _ ” John began, “ _ I actually have an offer for you. Go into town, the spread eagle, an envelope will be waiting for you there. When you get it, let me know _ .” He said the last part in a sing-song voice. She was getting tired of these damn games. Why couldn't he just tell her whatever he had to say right now? She turned her plane towards the town, telling Sharky she'll catch up with him later.

Once Evelyn had landed her plane, she strode briskly into the bar, "Mary, this might sound weird. Did I get any mail?"

“Shoot, I was just about to call you. Got caught up in the lunch rush.” Mary told her fetching it and bring it over to her. As John had told her, a manila envelope was placed readily for her with her name written nicely on the front. She didn't want to think about how easy it had been for him to be able to deliver it here and took the sealed paper with caution. 

When she opened it her face paled. Rena. At least she had looked healthy and alive, if not miserable. She was sitting down in a few hands folded in her lap, headphone wires springing from her hair. She was wearing a plain white dress that made her look daintier than she had in weeks. Evelyn hastily shoved the photos back in the envelope and rushed outside not wanting anyone to hear her talking to their enemy. 

"Where is she, Seed?" She forced out through gritted teeth. 

“ _ Safe, with us _ .” John told her honestly, “ _ If you want, I can take you to see her, for a trade _ .”    
“A trade? What are you getting at, John?” Evelyn answered with impatience.

“ _ You spend twenty-four hours with me alone, and at the end of the day I’ll take you to see her, _ ” John explained simply. “ _ Any tricks, or if you leave early, you don’t get to see her or find where she is _ .” 

Evelyn let out a laugh that had come out more like a scoff. “So you can get me to “atone”, drown me again?” Evelyn looked up at the bare mountain that had been once decorated with a giant YES. There’s no way a psychopath would let her get away intact with that feat. “I don’t trust you.” 

“ _ You don’t have much of a choice _ ,” John explained, “ _ I won’t do any atonement, I just want you to shadow me for a day. It’s this or you can kiss your chance of seeing her again goodbye. _ ” 

“I- I don’t know.” Evelyn tightened her jaw, he had a point. There was no way she could find Rena on her own and it would only be for one day. She exhaled, she’s been through worse, she could probably handle this. “Right now?”

“ _ Tomorrow morning, 10 am my ranch _ ,” John told her glee clear in his voice, “ _ I’ll be a gentleman I promise Evelyn _ .” It almost sounded like he was prepping her for a date.

*******

Rena felt light-headed as she tried to move from her bed to go downstairs for breakfast. She had managed to get dressed, but getting out of her room was proving to be more challenging. She stood in front of the doorway hands clutching onto the frame feeling like she might puke. 

"Lamb, are you ready yet?" Joseph yelled from the bottom of the steps. "I don't need to send you to John to atone for your sloth, do I?" He teased, beginning to make his way up the stairs.

“I-Is the air on at all?” Rena called back trying to move to the banister, she was used to working or moving when she was sick. “Why is it so hot?” 

When reaching her doorway Joseph eyed her up and down. "No, It is the same temperature as it always is. You are hot?" 

“Everything is really fuzzy,” She tried to explain to him as she leaned against the wall for a minute, unable to keep her head up. “Can we open a window?” He stepped closer to her taking her hand and pulling her towards him. He placed his other to her forehead.

"Lorena, you're burning up." Joseph's forehead wrinkled and he stared at her through tight eyes. Lorena leaned into his hand feeling how cold it was giving a soft smile.

“Hmmm.” She hummed, “Maybe it’s just not getting up here.”

"I'm calling off the sermon and putting you to bed." Joseph grabbed for his cell phone, holding it between his ear and shoulder. With a gentle maneuver, he picked her up and placed her onto the bed not having to move her very far.

“Ah,” Rena blinked at that, “I could have walked,” she argued, “I’ll be okay, I just need a nap and some ice.” She tried to tell him.

“I can’t come to the church today, can you make sure to tell everyone?” Joseph started to unwrap her bandages. “Thank you, Brother Isaiah.” Joseph pocketed his phone and looked at the stitches. “You got an infection. This is why I told them to keep you in the house.  _ They _ do not  _ think _ .” Joseph spat, getting up to go to the bathroom and coming back with the first aid kit, a basin of water and a few towels.

“You will not move from this bed until you are fully healed. Not to get something to eat,' Joseph started to clean the wound. “Not to bath or use the restroom, or to sit on the balcony.” Joseph stared hard her foot, lifting it for access to rub the injury with a warm wet cloth. “If you need anything. I will do it for you, understand?” 

Lorena looked at him unsure what to say, she wasn’t used to people taking care of her when she was sick, her mother used to make her soup when she was five, but after that, she was usually on her own. “You don’t have to do this,” she decided to say instead, “I’ll be fine. I just have to take my time.” Joseph gazed down at her softly and brushed his fingers against her cheek. 

“I want to.” He said sincerely, as he turned his attention back to her foot and rewrapped it after applying the antibiotics. “ I will see if I can get a doctor to look at it as soon as possible.”

“I-I fine,” Rena said shaking her head at him too tired and embarrassed with herself to argue with him. “I’m just going to need books and my i-pod.” 

“Of course. I will fetch them for you.” Joseph smiled, happy that they would be spending the next few days very intimately. 

“Thank you,” Rena said weakly before she felt herself drift back to sleep.


	8. One Fine Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Hey, Hey! This is our first chapter with some DubCon /rape/ assault in it. So please beware if it makes you uncomfortable, it starts in Lorena's half of this chapter. Skip it if you need to, there is an explanation of what happens in the next chapter.

“If I’m not back in two days, you know what to do,” Evelyn told the blond bartender expectantly before packing her small bag with simple necessities. She decided to tell Mary and Jerome, who in turn were skeptical and against her doing something so foolish, where she would be. She had to think smart, just in case shit hit the fan and she knew it always did. Evelyn stared at her guns, wondering if she’d be able to hide one somewhere without him realizing. She shook her head. Of course, she wouldn’t, he probably have his damn guards pat her down, but perhaps she could get away with pepper spray. 

“Are you sure about this?” Jerome asked one last time, “I have people looking for her still here. And the Sheriff radioed in that he has his people looking in Hellbane, she has to show up. Someone has to know where she was taken.” Evelyn shoved the cylindrical tube in her boot and looked up at Jerome. 

“Positive. I’m thinking maybe I can also bargain to get Joey back too. I have to do something. Waiting around isn’t getting us anywhere.” She stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. 

“She can take care of herself,” Mary told him shaking her head, “We’ll know whose door to knock down if you go missing.” 

“Thanks. Oh, and don’t tell Sharky where I went. Don’t need him trying to burn down John’s property, well at least when I’m in it.” Evelyn waved them off before heading out the door. When she arrived, John was waiting on the lawn in a chair wearing his jacket with a pair of sunglasses on. 

“You’re late.” He told her frowning standing up as she approached.

“It’s only 10:05,” Evelyn said checking her watch, irritated. “But, I would have been here earlier if your cult didn’t have roadblocks set up to where I have to drive around them.”

“We’re adding it to your time,” John told her crossing her arms, “The last visit had them desperate to defend me.” 

“Fantastic... ” She stated sarcastically. “But I still came, didn’t I?” She extended her arms to emphasize her situation. “Anyway, why am I here, John?”

“It-,” he took a sharp breath in as if trying not to snap for once, “It hardly matters now.” He looked her over before offering his hand, “Come on, we have an atonement to start.” Her eyes shifted to his hand and she crossed her arms over her chest rebelliously. 

“After you.” The last thing she would ever do is hold hands with him like they weren’t fighting on separate sides.  _ Hell no _ . 

“If I’m not walking hand in hand with you my men will shoot you, not knowing any better,” He explained, “And don’t worry, this is a willing participant.” Evelyn pursed her lips tightly and reached out for his hand, unenthusiastically taking it into her own. John hummed, doing his best not to startle her and resisting his urge to give her hand a gentle squeeze. She started to feel uneasy.

“What  _ is _ atonement like?” Evelyn asked already regretfully, trailing alongside him. 

“I ask the person to tell me their transgressions, all their sins, then we tattoo it on their body. Willing parties are peaceful, easy.” He told her looking back expression still at ease, “They say yes right away and the process goes smoothly. The unwilling to experience a more painful time.” Evelyn stared at him, more annoyed than troubled, although her tone slightly faltered. 

“I see,” Evelyn said dryly unsure what she expected, “So you torture the ones that didn’t sign up for your deranged idea of a confessional.” 

“Sometimes,” John admitted, “Though I always give them a chance to say  _ yes _ . You’ll see both today,” He told her in a light voice as they walked into the room, “But I believe you’ll be relieved to see who our unwilling party is.” The guards immediately pulled their weapons out at the sight of Evelyn but lowered them just as fast seeing her being lead by John. 

“We’ll handle it from here,” John told them nodding to both of the guards, “Evelyn is our guest today, let the others know. Anyone who shoots her will not get atonement for their mistake.” He said in a much lower tone.

Evelyn watched as the cut followers tense at his words, “I am confused. Am I not the one Atoning?”

“I told you,” John said looking confused as if he didn’t understand how he was not being clear, “I’m being a gentleman, no harm will come to you today, you’re here as a guest, to see what you are really fighting.” Evelyn opened her mouth to say something smart, he hadn’t really made the best first impression for her to believe so, but she stopped herself.

“Right. And I suppose you expect me to join your cult afterward?” She muttered under her breath.

“Out,” He repeated to his men, ignoring her snide comment, watching as they finally left the two of them alone. He let go of her hand and moved to get a pair of gloves and his tattoo gun ready, “We just have two appointments this morning then we’ll be able to enjoy a lunch together.” He explained. “And I have an outfit you’ll need to change into later before we go to see your partner.”

“Lunch?” The thought of food made her stomach rumble, the only thing she had been surviving off of had been canned food and beef jerky since John and his crowd took it upon themselves to steal most of the supplies in Holland. “What is wrong with what I have on now?” Evelyn asked, unamused, looking down at her dirt-covered jeans and a black button-up shirt.

“You’ll stick out like a sore thumb,” John explained shaking his head, “We don’t need anyone freaking out thinking the two of you are planning something. The less attention we bring the better. Besides, I prefer it if you weren’t covered in dirt most of the day.” 

“You’re insufferable.” Evelyn shook her head but shrugged it off figuring she didn’t have much of a choice. “But if I must.”

John chuckled, giving her a smirk, “I promise to make today fun, deputy.” Evelyn positioned herself into a chair and watched him prep, keeping quiet, tired of all the short and vague answers she was getting. 

“Fun”,  _ She couldn’t wait _ . Evelyn began to bite the nail of her thumb, another nervous tic she had. The first candidate came and left quickly, telling John their life story. An alcoholic who was struggling to let go of his crutch and live a peaceful life. John picked gluttony for his tattoo, placing it on the man's arm, and wishing him luck before he left. The man was brought to tears, believing he was finally about to get the help he desperately needed. 

Evelyn sat patiently with her arms over her chest. Unsure how she felt about the scene unfolding in front of her, it seemed...so normal. Had they been wrong? Had  _ she _ been wrong?

John patted the man’s shoulder, “Go now, my men will take you to the path.” 

“Thank you,” he whispered before leaving the room. 

“See painless,” John told her removing his gloves and changing the needle out of his gun for the next candidate. “I want you to help me with the next one.” 

“Help?” Evelyn’s mouth fell faintly agape, “I don’t-”

“Let’s give you a bit of a background on our next atonement before you decide.” John said cutting her off as he put in the new needle and clicked the gun, “This man was one of my own. And while guarding Lorena in her transport to me from Jacob’s he not only let her escape. When he caught her, he shot her in her foot. She’s under our care, recovering slowly but surely,” John told her trying not to worry her, “But, he still needs to be punished.” 

“Ah,” Evelyn thought for a moment. Her brow creasing at the thought of Rena in pain. “You want me to do the same, as you did to the other man?” He just wanted her to simply tattoo the guy who shot her friend and send him on his merry way, so easily forgiven? 

“No,” John told her, keeping the gun at his side, “You, my dear, are going to remind him that we don’t let our sins shouldn’t control us, and not to hurt the family.” He opened a toolbox on the table filled with various torture devices. “If you wanted we could inflict the same damage, but make it last longer.” 

There it was. The line that went beyond normal, Evelyn looked at him with sudden trepidation.

“I..” Yes, he hurt Rena, but she wasn’t the judge of the man’s fate. It wasn’t up to her to torture this man. 

“You decide,” John told her motioning for her to come to see his collection gleefully.

“I… no. I can’t” Evelyn said sternly. “It’s inhumane.”

“Then I’ll do it,” John told her, “Pick something,” he offered still wanting her to be somewhat part of the process. To share it with her. Evelyn’s lip curled into a grimace, her eyes scanning over the various tools he had laid out before her, she stood there quietly, arms hung limply to her sides. She didn’t want to say anything. She didn’t want to be a part of this. When she didn’t decided he nodded to her before pressing a button on the table letting them know to bring the man in. 

Evelyn turned her eyes up to see the man being dragged in, accompanied by two others in similar garb. She bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to settle her uneasiness. His eyes landed on the deputy, piercing her with recognition and he scowled, indignant that she would be his audience. He spat her feet. The man was quickly manhandled to the ground. A grunt escaped his throat, obviously not wanting to be here. Once he was settled and tied to the floor, John pretended to leaf through the tool kit before he abruptly unsheathed his gun and shot the man in the right foot. 

“We do not, let our sin consume us, Daniel!” He shouted sharply banging his hand on the table, rattling the toolbox. Evelyn flinched, unprepared for the sudden gunfire and knitted her brow at the man's screams that filled the room. She turned to John, who had paid no mind to her, and threw him a look of objection. 

“Not only did you break your oath to me, and dirtied your soul again,” John shouted before shooting the remaining foot, “You hurt one of our beloved guests, halted her absolution process.” 

“Fuck!” Daniel shuddered on the floor, his blood beginning to pool from his feet. “The bitch deserved it. D-don’t know why the Father is keeping them both alive. After all, they’ve done to destroy the project.” The man spoke feebly and with disdain towards Evelyn who returned her glared.

“Do you still wish to be with us?” He questioned stepping closer to Daniel his hands gripping the sinner’s head, “Do you still wish to use the power of yes to save your soul, or are you lost to us forever?” Daniel grew quiet, not willing to swallow his pride in front of his enemy. His eyes drifted away from The Baptist’s intense stare and his jaw clenched, trying to rally through the pain. 

"Don't look at her, you’re not worthy to, focus on me," John told him through his teeth. "This is your last chance, do you wish to atone Daniel?"

Daniel scowled, practically spatting, “Not if the sluts continue to plague our project. Corrupt The Father. I've seen it-” John didn’t let him finish his sentence, hand smacking him hard against the cheek, 

“You dare question us? Pretend to know what’s best? Perhaps I should have given you Pride along with Wrath!” Daniel grew quiet, his face scrunched up in angry confusion. “Get him out of my sight,” John told his men, “Put him in the bunker, do not bandage him, let him think about his choices.” 

"He could die." Evelyn finally spoke up from behind him, when they were the only ones left in the room. 

“And if Joseph didn’t step in so would Lorena,” John told her, “He found him stepping on her foot after he shot her.” He took his gloves off and ran a hand through his hair as he tried to cool off. Evelyn bit her tongue. 

_ That man was trying to kill Rena? _

“I apologize, I expected the idea of getting vengeance to fancy you,” John told her sincerely putting away the gun and his things.

"What-" she hissed out through her teeth. "No. What you're doing is wrong, John. No one deserves this,” She stuttered for a minute thinking of the right word “-brutality." As much as it pained her that the bastard had hurt Rena, she couldn't. John froze for a moment, his body feeling a small shiver from hearing her say his name so casually. He took a sharp breath in before looking over at her, 

“So when it’s me killing my own men it's unacceptable? And when you do it, its justice?” 

“I-I’m defending myself.” She responded back with uncertainty, turning her eyes anywhere else in the room. “You’re men are killing innocents. I’m a cop. I’m supposed to be protecting people.” Evelyn snapped, speaking mostly to convince herself. Well, she was a cop, she didn’t know what was going to happen after all this was over.

John watched her letting out a light laugh, “You don’t sound too sure of that.” He pointed out, “I expected more conviction from you.” He told her stepping closer, invading her space slightly, not wanting to press her too far,  _ yet.  _ “What do you want for lunch,” he asked her changing the subject wanting to keep things pleasant, “Your pick, anything you want, I'll have it flown in.” Evelyn folded her arms over her chest and stared at the blood-soaked in the floor, unsure if it had been from the man or an old stain. 

"I don't…” She sighed in frustration trying to let the topic go, make things somewhat peaceful for the remaining time she was stuck with him. “Surprise me." She rubbed her arms, not sure if she even had an appetite for anything.

John pulled out his phone and texted out his orders, “Gladly.” He said giving her a smile after tucking it away. “Let’s get you out of this room dear.” He said grabbing the door for her, like a gentleman. Evelyn frowned back in response but gladly walked out the door before him. This room was suffocating and she eagerly wanted out. When they reached his home again, the table was already laid out. A large plate of spaghetti and two glasses of wine and garlic bread were laid out.

“I hope you like Italian.” He told her moving to pull out her chair.It was surprising that everything was so simple, coming from a man who seems to go above and beyond, but she liked simple and wasn’t complaining. Evelyn eyed him suspiciously before taking a seat, unsure what she should gather from all this. What was the point and what is he trying to prove? She took a seat, a sudden discomfort rising over her. Now was the best time to negotiate about Joey.

“John-” 

John smiled at her as he took his own seat, “Yes dear?” He asked before taking his knife and fork. Thinking it would probably best if she eased into it, she started with another question.

"What if he's wrong?" Evelyn grabbed for the glass of wine and took a small sip. "What is Joseph's not some prophet and all this was for nothing?" John paused at that taking it into consideration for a moment before shaking his head.

“Unlikely, he’s...heard voices most of his life, it was how he found me and Jacob again.” John told her twirling some pasta around his fork, “My last name was changed, and Jacob was floating between homeless shelters. It was next to impossible, his visions are almost always true.” 

“What will you do, if you find out he was right?” John posed to her. 

"It still wouldn't absolve all the wrong you and your cult have done." Evelyn quickly responded back, placing her glass down. "You've kidnapped people. Separated them from their families and friends. My friends." 

“We’re trying to save as many people as possible,” John said sighing, “If we don’t get them before the collapse then they’ll be left to perish,” He said it was almost like he was rehearsing the words. “And your friends would have continued to shoot and kill our people like your rash Burke.” 

“My people are nothing like Burke. We wanted everything to go as peacefully and smoothly as possible.” Evelyn rose her fork to her mouth and took a bite of the spaghetti, allowing a faint hum of approval to escape her. “You could have thought of a less violent way.”

"But, If you think  _ this _ , Whatever this is. It is going to make me change my mind about you and your family, you are absolutely wrong." Evelyn leaned back in her chair. "I appreciate the free food though." She finished sardonically, gesturing to the meal. John snorted at that, anger showing on his face before looking at her expression. She looked more comfortable around him, despite her words. She was leaning back and her shoulders were no longer tense.

He had gotten  _ exactly _ what he wanted from this day.

“You’re welcome, feel free to give me an actual request for dinner,” John told her before sipping some wine himself. “I’d love the chance to really show off.” 

***

Joseph knocked before entering, a gentleman at heart. “Lorena? I have brought you more things to read.” This had been his fifth time checking on her. In his hands, he held a few more books that he was certain she would like to read, secretly and subtly overtop the Book of Joseph, in hopes, she would at least peek at it. Balanced nicely on top of the pile of hardcovers was a cup of hot tea. He placed them down on her nightstand and sat in the chair beside her. “I’ve also brought you tea. I put a few bliss petals in it, it’s not strong enough to put you under, but enough to help with the pain. Naturally.” He tilted his head and smiled. “No pressure in drinking it, though.” Rena looked over the books and gave a faint smile before looking at the tea and squinting her eyes. 

“I don’t know,” She picked it up inspecting it for any signs of unusual green, there was a small puff of green smoke wafting from the mug. “Will it still make me really um...talkative?” 

Joseph breathed in deeply and thought for a second. “I don’t believe so. It’s meant to relax. Do you not wish to talk to me?” He raised a single brow. 

“The pain isn’t that bad,” Rena tried to explain justifying herself without outright telling him she still didn’t trust him, “and I don’t want to be any more of a bother than I’ve already been.” 

“You aren’t, trust me,” Joseph cupped his hands over her before taking the tea from her and placing it back down out of reach. “Lorena, I do want to get to know more of you, though, not by means of bliss. I want to know the things you like. Like...what are your hobbies?” 

Lorena flushed at the close contact and hesitated to answer at first, “I-I like candles, coffee and those gemstones that people swear have those um healing properties.” She thought a minute before saying, “Good music.” Joseph hummed, pleased that she was being so cooperative. She had been so quiet in the past few hours. 

“I could try and get candles if you would like for  _ your _ room.” Joseph crossed a leg over the other one, leaning back in his chair. “And I’ve most certainly noticed you like music. You seem to always have your headphones in.” He pointed to them sitting in her lap.

“That might be nice. It is um, a safety precaution some days,” Rena said dismissively to the statement about her headphones. 

“I’ve also realized you don’t quite like our songs.” Joseph laughed, to show there were no hard feelings about it.

Rena did not hesitate to answer, “Oh I hate it. Full offense to the composers and your congregation is mostly tone death, but that’s not their fault.” 

He raised his eyebrows amused and chuckled, “Jacob composed the music. I wrote the lyrics.” He quickly retorted. 

"Don't quit your day jobs please, the world does not need your musical career," Rena told him giving him a small smile to let him know she wasn't trying to be too rude, to which he only snorted. It was clear he was happier she was opening up with him than upset at her for insulting him. 

“What about your hobbies Lamb?” 

“I don’t have that many hobbies, I like reading, and singing. When I had time I used to buy those adult coloring books,” Rena told him sheepishly ranting for a bit to justify her reasoning for liking them. Joseph nodded along to her, listening to her intently, his gaze occasionally lingering to her collarbone. Joseph closed his eyes as if to cease temptation. He couldn’t deny his desire for the woman that lay in front of him, so delicate and heavenly. 

“Mm. I see. Have you ever thought of what you wanted to do in the future? Start a family...  _ Marriage _ ... Children?” His eyes drifted to the window, thinking about how lovely of a Mother she would make. 

Rena pushed some of the blankets off her feeling a bit hot again, distracting her from how weird of a question it had been. “I-I liked being a cop.” She said honestly, “It made me feel like I was doing good, even if it was one of the few choices I had.” She stopped for a second feeling the dull ache in her foot start to grow into a sharp pain, “Ah, F-family I guess would be nice, though I don’t think I’ll be getting married anytime soon.” She exhaled trying not to think about the pain, and power through it.

“Lorena?” Joseph questioned, watching her shift uncomfortably. “Perhaps, you should drink the tea?” He grabbed the cup, his brows laced with concern and passed it to her. Then he grabbed the cloth soaked in a bowl of cool water to the side of her, and damping it lightly on her forehead. Lorena took the tea, feeling the heat so close to her just made it worse, but she still took a sip. The pain was starting to get severe for her, she closed her eyes.

“It’s hot,” she explained leaning into the cloth, trying to cool off from just sipping the lukewarm tea.

Joseph stood up from his chair, “If that’s the case if you would like, I can run the bath for you. The water might help lower your fever, Lamb.”

“Ah yeah,” Lorena said nodding meekly, time alone in the tub in some cold water would probably be great for her. “That sounds like it could be nice.” 

Joseph clasped his hands together and smiled softly. “Wonderful. I will be right back.”

After 45 minutes Joseph came back into the room, the sleeves to his shirt rolled up to his biceps, presumingly so they didn’t get wet in the process. He casually peeled the remaining of the blanket that had been drooped over her legs off, once again lifting her with little difficulty and headed for the bathroom. 

“Ah, your back,” Rena said blinking slowly waking up, the tea had a stronger effect than she thought it would, making her see butterflies dancing around Joseph’s head. From what Rean noticed in her hazed state, the bathtub had been filled with essential oils that smelled like lavender and garnished with white petals that gave off a green coloring. On the edge of the tub were various sized candles. Mostly plain white, familiar to what she had remembered being in the building Joseph's sermons took place.

“I took a bit long because I decided to quickly run by the church to fetch those,” Joseph exclaimed, somewhat bashfully. He placed her carefully onto the seat of the toilet. Joseph began to tug at the cuff of her sleeve, encouraging her to slip her arm through it.

“It’s nice,” Rena hummed looking it over before looking down at her sleeve confused, “I-I can do that-this from here.” She tried to tell him shaking her head clearly expecting him to leave her to bathe herself.

“If you can manage, go right ahead. But, I still need to help you into the tub, Lamb.” Joseph replied, letting go of her sleeve. He stood crouched on one knee in front of her, eyeing Rena intently. “I don’t want you to manage to hurt yourself more than you already have.” he finished saying, with slight accusation. Rena frowned at him flushing red as she tried to lift her arms, struggling to grab the cloth at the edge and lift it over her head. She lifted it revealing her waist but once her head was covered in white it was even harder to see what to do. Her mind was so heavy, it all felt so hard. Joseph let out a soft laugh, “I think you may actually need my assistance, Lamb.” Joseph took control, grabbing at the bottom of her dress and lifting it above her head, his fingertips trailing slowly up her skin. 

“Not fair,” she whined right as his breath hitched at the sight of her, half bare, scars now fully out in the open. He dropped the dress to the floor and murmured softly. 

“You truly are the most beautiful of God's children, My Love.” Once her hands were free she tried to cover herself. “Do you wish to bath in your undergarments?” Joseph asked, amused at her reaction. 

“No, but your-you’re” She looked up at him wide-eyed pouting, “-staring,” She felt herself flushing further feeling frustrated with herself, as she lowered her arms slowly, submitting again, “It's making me nervous.” she tried to explain.

Joseph’s gaze lightened, “I’m sorry, would you like for me to shut my eyes?” He replied with a jest, tilting his head. 

“J-just hurry,” she murmured closing her eyes and shaking her head again if anything the process was just making her hotter at this point. With what seemed like a sense of urgency, Joseph made quick work of the remaining clothing, shedding them off her and adding it to the pile. He paused and silently prayed, prayed for strength, the memory of the scar above his loins burning deeply. Joseph shuddered, sinful thoughts taunting him from the darker recesses of his mind, reminding him of his transgressions. He forced them away and quickly lifted Lorena up from the toilet seat and into the tub. The water was still a perfect temperature for her, not too hot, not too cold. He reached for the buttons of his shirt, slowing casting it off of himself. 

"What are you doing?" Rena asked feeling panicked before letting out a sudden sigh as the water-cooled around her, bliss seeping into her mind once more.

“I don’t want to get it wet.” He said simply, before kneeling in front of the tub, in front of her, as if praying and worshiping the source of his weakness. “You have seen me without it most days, It’s no different.” Joseph grabbed for the sponge and dipped it into the bath before running against her neck and chest, eyeing the water that ran down her fragile frame. Joseph shut his eyes, jaw tightly clenched. No. _ Not yet. _

"I-I can do it," Rena tried to tell him reaching to take the sponge, "I want to do it."Joseph silently disregarded her comment, too wrapped up in his own thoughts to concentrate. 

“I’m going to dip you beneath the water, Lorena.” He softly grabbed her by the nape of her neck, his other hand pressed to her heart right about her exposed chest. Joseph calmly lowered her into the water infused with bliss oils as if personally baptizing her. He stared down at her momentarily, so angelic, so pure. Caught in his own reverie, he noticed her begin to squirm and he swiftly pulled her up. Lorena let out a gasp feeling her weakened state get worse. Her breathing was a slower dispute with the small sense of panic that was there in the back of her mind. 

"That was s-scary," she stammered looking up at him frowning. Joseph ran a finger over her cheek and pushed back a wet strand of hair, almost feeling guilty for causing her distress.

“I’m sorry, I will be more careful next time.” Joseph picked back up the sponge, repeating the process, this time leaning her forward to scrub her back. Joseph was a patient man, but this had been nearly unendurable for him. How he longed for this moment, longed for her touch. Craving her love in return. “You don’t understand what you do to me, My Love.” He sighed contently, gazing down at her through half-lidded eyes. Rena felt her breath hitch, as he continued to touch her while speaking so softly. She felt so sensitive this was all so overwhelming.

“What...what do I do to you?” She asked despite her better judgment.

"You make it hard for me to think coherently. Hard for me to hold back on...showing you my  _ devotion _ ." Joseph dipped his hand back into the water once more, squeezing the sponge over her, then rubbing against her chest, his eyes lingering for too long. "I can't trust myself around you." 

“You’re no better,” Rena told him, the bliss causing her filter to be cast aside as well, “You keep spoiling me and being so nice to me for no reason. I’m not used to this.” She let out another small gasp as he kept moving, “I’m not a child, and yet you’ve been smothering me like one. No one’s ever treated me like-like this.” Joseph stopped for a moment and stared at her seriously. 

"You deserve to be treated like this, Lorena. You are not a tool or an abundance." Joseph growled out, thinking back to the tape of her confessions that he had listened to after John had given it to him. Joseph lifted her leg and began to slowly scrub her calf. "You are wonderful and special."

“You’re so domestic,” Rena tried to think for a minute before speaking again, “You treat me so carefully, lovingly. I don’t know what to do.” 

"Let me take care of you. As a husband should." Joseph spoke, his voice so weak now. So desperate. 

“As a husband?” Rena asked feeling her face flush even further as he grew closer. She closed her eyes, feeling his touch, her senses along with her mind slipping as she let herself inch forward. Dropping the loofah, he allowed his fingers to cautiously brush up her leg. He moved his other hand behind her neck and leaned in to press his forehead against hers. 

"Let me show you, my love." He opened his eyes, his slender digits reaching the middle of her legs 

“Just…” She let out a small breathy gasp, “keep touching me, please.” She begged hands moving to touch his arms, “ _ please _ .” she repeated. Joseph’s breath quickened, his eyes wide and dilated. 

“Of course, My Love,” He slips a finger in her sex first, his thumb kneading her clit relentlessly. Joseph presses his lips to hers and murmurs confessions of his love in-between delicate kisses. His other hand sliding down from her neck and to her breast, teasing her nipple amid two digits. 

“Ah,” Rena felt her head leaned back as he showered her with affections, her face was flushed as she let out a small squeak when his hand moved her breast in a certain way. “Fuck…” she moaned looking back over at him, surprised at the immediate switch.

“You are truly are divine. Heaven sent…  _ Just for me _ .” His voice was airy, eating up every gasp and moan that escaped from her mouth. Not long after, did he decide to slip in another finger, curling and twisting them both against her walls, his thumb still working feverishly at her sweet spot. Joseph leaned more over the tub, no longer caring if his jeans that had been now so painfully tight, were soaked. He trailed his lips down to her jaw, neck, and collarbone, lowering his tongue to her cleavage and moving to her nipple. His teeth scraping tauntingly as he sucked. 

“J-Joesph,” Rena murmured breathlessly as he continued to make her squirm and burn up underneath him, hands gripping his shoulders as her nails dug into him feeling herself start to lose it, moving to hide her face towards his body, feeling like she was about to fall apart. Joseph moaned, despite the fact that his throbbing member, confined under his clothes, received no attention. 

Without warning, he took out his fingers out of her and quickly pulled her out of the water that had long gone frigid, walked to the bedroom and placed her down onto the sheets. 

“I hope you taste just as sweet as you sound, Lorena.”

“W-What?” She asked him trying to sit up but quickly falling back down on her back, her body still heavy from the bliss. Joseph lowered his head to her stomach, pressing more gentle kisses onto her. He descended until he reached her soaking folds and delved his tongue inside. Joseph reinserted his two fingers, scissoring them inside her as they squeezed so eagerly back as he mercilessly licked and sucked at Rena’s clit. His beard strangely adding to her pleasure, along with his free hand that pushed down assertively against her lower abdomen, to keep her hips from raising to him expectantly. Rena let out a loud moan, unable to keep it in. 

She looked down at him feeling herself in a haze gasping for air as she asked, “How...how the hell are you a priest?” She wanted to buck her hips, thrash, move faster with him. Joseph opened his mouth, contemplating on telling her that he had a wife and considered otherwise. Now wasn’t the time. He hummed against her instead, looking up at her through heavy wanton filled eyes, Pleased that he was having such a strong effect on her. 

“Come here,” she told him frantically arms raised wanting to beckon him over, “ _ Please _ …” 

Joseph lifted himself up from his elbows, crawling over top her and pressing himself flush against her. The view of her beneath him stalling his breath. He brought his digits to his mouth and sucked off her juices hungrily, never breaking his intense eye contact with her. Joseph leaned closer, mixing the sweat from his forehead with her own. When he grew close enough she cupped his face before kissing him again. Her hands trailing down his sides moving her body, to the best of her ability, so her crotch was covering his denim-covered one. Slowly she began to move up and down on him, desperate for friction and to feel his chest on hers, to be close so she could grab him. Joseph groaned against her lips, breathing through numerous chaste kisses, returning her needy grinding with a roll of his hips. 

Unable to his growing urges, Joseph sat upon his knees and hastily undid his belt, “...and be united to _ his wife, _ and the two will become one flesh.” he murmured, never once shifting his gaze anywhere but on her. Without coordination, he slipped off his jeans, his hardened cock released and standing proud against his stomach. Lorena felt herself freeze at the sight of him lips parting, not expecting to get this far with a man who claimed to be so religious. It took her hazed brain a few seconds to process what he had just said.

“W-wife?” she questioned starting back at him a small sense of dread somewhere in the back of her subconscious. His fingers returned to her folds momentarily, quickly preparing what is to come, slipping them in and out, before wrapping his digits, slick with her juices around his cock and lining himself up with her. He glides into her slowly, lifting her legs up to wrap around his waist and filling her completely, his balls hitting her entrance. Lorena let out pants as she felt the pressure build in her, making her expand and take him in painfully slow. 

Joseph opened his mouth in a silent gasp, his eyes flickered open to meet hers, the corner of his lips turned up into a content smile before locking them once more with hers, his tongue curiously exploring the cavern of her mouth. She met his lips biting his lower lip before she opened hers for him. Her hands had death grips on the sheets below her and her legs kept their grip on him not wanting to let him go, feeling a strange sense of security from it all. Seeing her impatience, Joseph began to rock his hips, thrusting inside her at a tantalizing slow speed. Suddenly, he pulled out, almost completely unsheathed before slamming back into her, engulfing her sweet scream of pleasures with his mouth and moaning in hers in return, then finding his pace again, managing to hit the right spot with each elongated and deep thrust with ease. He lowered his hand back down, finding her bud and rubbed it with the same verve his cock did so tenderly, against her walls.

“Fuck,” Rena couldn’t help but curl into him, her back trying to inch closer, “Joesph, don’t stop please.” She whimpered moving her hands from the sheets to cling to him again. Her nails dug into him, “I-I’m close.” she told him practically whining moving her head to his shoulder trying to give him love bites, something to encourage him more.

"Cum for me, My Love." Joseph murmured heavily into the crook of her neck, groaning at the feel of her teeth. He picked up his speed with short hurried thrusts, finding himself near the edge. His one hand gripped her waist for support, the other tangled between locks of her hair. Rena found herself twitch before a rush of euphoria washed over her gasping into Joesph’s shoulders she crumbled underneath him. Joseph shuddered not soon after her, filling her with his warm seed, voluminous and creamy after years of celibacy. 

He stared in admiration down at her, before showering her in small delicate kisses as if afraid he would break her listening as she let out a slight giggle, appreciating the additional simple affection after. Finally pulling out, he rolled them to their side, sheltering her with his arms, she curled into him pressing her head against his chest, quickly drifting to sleep as she felt the rise and fall of his chest.

***

In the morning it wasn’t quite as peaceful, Rena woke up in  _ his  _ arms feeling a shiver roll up her spine. The memories blurrily rushed to her as she tried to pry herself away from him covering herself with a sheet, as her panic hit her. Joseph laid behind her, his nose nuzzled deep into her hair and arms held her around her waist. He blinked, pulled from his slumber by the sudden commotion and sat up with a worried look.

_ The tea, it was the tea, _ she tried to tell herself face scrunching as she screamed profanities at herself in her mind. She started to tear up, unsure what this would mean for her stay here. Joseph was loving and sheltering to her yes, but he was also psychotic and unpredictable. She pulled at her hair trying to get herself to think rationally, to stop feeling violated.

He spoke incoherently, slurred by drowsiness, "My Love? Are you in pain?" Joseph pulled the sheets off himself, bare as a newborn, and got up to look at her foot. "Do you need me to get you some medicine?" 

She sat up slowly turning to look at him, “L-Last night…” It was all she could get out, unsure if she was mentally ready to accuse him of drugging her.

"Last night...?" Joseph questioned expecting more out of her, his brow raised in confusion. Suddenly, realizing what she had meant, Joseph reached for her, running the back of his fingers gently along her cheek. "Do you not remember?" He raised a hand to her forehead. "Hm... Your fever has gone down slightly."

“I-I do, it's just blurry,” Rena said trying not to flinch away, “The bliss.” She reminded him, though she doubted he needed it. 

Joseph tilted his head, “Yes, sometimes it can do that, Lamb.” Joseph stood and grabbed his jeans from the floor, slipping into them and buckled his belt. He hummed and smiled, in obvious high spirits. “I’m going to go downstairs to fix you something to eat before-” 

“D-don’t drug me again,” Rena told him putting her foot down, knowing she still didn’t have much of an escape or choice in her current living situation. Joseph stalled and turned to sit back down onto the bed. He placed a hand on her leg and squeezed gently. 

“Bliss isn’t a drug and I told you it was in the tea, My Love.” Joseph gave her a tight smile. “Today we will be going to the church. I have a surprise for you, one that you will like.” Joseph glanced at the wall clock and tsked. “I will fix you something to eat, and then come back to help you get ready. How does that sound, hm?” Rena sighed, feeling a sense of dread from his misdirection. She looked up at him curious what the surprise might be, before nodding. 

“I can dress myself, to save some time.” She told him trying to play this right, “You could pick it out?” 

Joseph beamed, “If that is what you wish, Lamb.” He stood up and walked to the wardrobe and after moments of searching through, he pulled out an outfit for her to wear, placing it down in front of her. “Call me if you need anything, I’ll be right downstairs.” 

Rena looked down at the  [ dress ](https://pin.it/q2aua222xqs3ro) and sighed getting up slowly feeling a bit achy now that some of her adrenaline had faded. Quickly she got dressed, and ready for the day, trying to ignore the shame building up in her stomach.


	9. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short chapter! But I think it will def be juicy enough on its own.

After a night of following John around, he brought Evelyn to the center island to spend the night. He left her a change of[ clothes ](https://pin.it/pt2xapsgojwxfr)for the morning. He woke her up with a knock on the door and a tray of coffee and eggs. 

“Rise and shine we can’t be late for the sermon,” John told her in a soft voice.

Evelyn sat up on the bed, her hair a disheveled mess and muttered, “S-sermon? What?” She rubbed at her eyes with her index finger and thumb, surprised she actually managed to sleep, not well, but she did sleep and that counted. “You never said anything about a sermon.” Her eyes flickered yearningly to the coffee. 

“We will be meeting up with Rena and Joseph,” John told her placing the tray down along with the dress. “But, you won’t be able to talk to her until after the service.” 

“Oh, alright.” Throwing off her covers, Evelyn turned to hang off the bed and took a glimpse over at the dress laid across the bed. “No.” 

“What?” John asked practically snapping, “What’s wrong with it?” 

“I don’t think it goes with my beaten and bruised aesthetic.” She said smartly. “I’m not wearing a dress, John. I’d rather go bare.” It wasn’t like she wouldn’t wear a dress - although she couldn’t even remember the last time she had worn one. She just had too much pride in wearing one that _ he _ had chosen for her. Evelyn stood up to reach for the mug of coffee. 

“Well, I have a few other dresses, or you are to wear our Project Eden clothes,” John told her shaking his head knowing he should have expected the resistance. “The more people don’t immediately recognize your aesthetic the better.” Evelyn nearly let out a groan when he mentioned the peggie clothes and stared at the dress again. 

“You can’t be serious.” 

“Honestly Evelyn, it’s too early to be fighting this much,” John tsked losing his patience, “I’ll bring in your other choices, it’s that or you don’t go.”

“Fine. Just get out.” Evelyn yanked the dress off the bed.

“I’ll be downstairs waiting, come when you’re ready,” John told her swiftly leaving before she could throw anything at him. Once he shut the door behind him, Evelyn shed her clothing and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her arm was crudely wrapped in old bandages in need of replacing, her skin a deathly pale, littered with cuts and fresh bruises, dark circles contrasting with iron eyes, and a grime and dirt coating, leaving her body far from untouched.

She slipped into the shower, the first one in a long time, and watched the cloudy water run off her. After, she quickly stepped into the dress that fit her unnervingly perfect, and pulled up her hair, giving herself a once over before heading out the door indignantly.

***

As per usual, Joseph rolled Rena up towards the church giving her polite banter about this and that, asking more about her, small things that didn’t seem too probing to pass the time on the way there, Lorena now carefully answering them instead of just blurting things out. The moment they got to the door, eyes were once again glued to Rena and whispers floated in the air. Joseph pushed her into the church and parked her right up front, close to the pew. 

Joseph placed a hand on her shoulder and bent down toward her ear, “I will be right back, My Love. I need to attend to some things before we start.” With that being said Joseph turned and walked towards a group of people that stood back at the entrance. Rena watched him go feeling her anxieties triple as she realized Faith wasn’t there to help her ignore the peggies. She did her best to keep her head down, headphones in her hands in case she needed to drown anyone out. A couple who sat a few rows behind her initiated a conversation with one another, loud enough for Rena to pick up on. The blond-haired woman was the first to vocalize. 

“I didn’t know we willingly allowed a snake to slither its way into our garden.” 

“Watch your tongue. The Father would not stand for you slandering the Mother.” The male rasped back at her. “You’ve heard what happened to Daniel and Faith.” At Faith's name Rena couldn’t help but look over at them, and then around the room for her. Had something happened? Did she get her hurt? Then there was "_ The Mother _", she felt a chill up her spine as she guessed what that would mean for her.

“Mother!? No. The Father would never. You speak lies.” The woman grew quiet for a moment, “The girl must be manipulating The Father... filling his mind with venom.”Before Lorena could pick up on the next sentence, a young follower slumped down on the bench beside her.

“So, are you like a brownnoser or something?” they asked with genuine curiosity. “How’d you manage to get front row seats?”

Rena blinked at them before giving them a nervous smile, “ I think it might just be the chair, I’m willing to swap.” They let out a reverberant laugh, causing some of the peggies to glance over. 

“Cass. You?” Cass offered their hand.

"Lorena," she said taking it, glad to meet someone who actually seemed normal there. "It's nice to meet you."

“Cool. Most of the people I tried to talk to seem a bit stickler.” They crossed their leg over the other, “I’m kinda a fresh face here..” Saying so, Cass lifted up their sleeve showing off a healing GREED tattoo, then lifted up the other sleeve to reveal an ENVY one. “What’s yours?”

Rena looked them over, "I...I haven't gotten any yet." She said unsure if she wanted to open the can of worms that was "_ I'm not in the project _". 

“Oh. Maybe you’re just too innocent.” Cass joked. Their eyes wandered down to Rena’s lap and onto her iPod and pointed. “What do you listen to?” 

Flashes of last night and her shot on the Cook flashed through her mind, "Ah I doubt that." Rena said laughing a bit. Her eyes lit up at the talk of music, "Pop, Alternative, and rap. You? Please don't say project music."

Cass snorted and gave her a lazy smirk, “But _ Oh John _ is my jam. I love the amour propre.” They teased.

“Well now you definitely can’t have my seat,” Rena said back in jest. 

“That’s fair. Hmm, I like stuff like the Deli, you ever hear of them? But uh... mostly Hip Hop, Indie, Rap. Weird shi- stuff.” 

She couldn’t help but laugh at their slip up, “I don’t care if you curse, the others...might though.” She told them unsure, Joseph never really scolded her when she muttered them. The room started to fill, people promptly taking their seats and Cass immediately shot up from theirs.

“Shoot. We’ll talk tunes after. Catch you later, Rena.” they walked around the crowd, waving Rena off before sitting in the back row between two members that didn’t look keen on starting a conversation with their sudden chatty company.

Joseph strode gracefully to the front, followed by Jacob and Faith who took a seat across the opposite side of Rena. Joseph raised his head to the door, eyeing John and Evelyn who were the last ones in and made their way to sit near the other Heralds. Rena shot Faith and apologetic glance before settling in her seat flipping through her music to pick a song to play when they started to sing, not recognizing Evelyn as she walked in from a distance.

Evelyn whispered to John, walking alongside him. “I think we are late.” Evelyn turned her head and noticed Rena sitting in a wheelchair, tempted to make her way over there, but guided next to the other heralds.

"Fashionably so," John told her guiding her to her seat watching as Lorena looked up and almost jumped in her seat at the sight of Evelyn sitting with them. "Don't worry we have a few seconds to get you settled." Evelyn scowled seeing Jacob and Faith, she lowered herself to the pew next to them and crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Great the gang's all here.” 

Rena was unable to stop herself from smiling for a while she was starting to believe she'd never see her again. When Rena caught her gaze she tilted her head as if to ask if she was okay, just noticing she had walked in with John. Evelyn gave her a weary smile in return. John frowned noticing the faint blush on Rena's cheeks after she had noticed Evelyn was wearing the dress he put her in. He placed a finger to his lips and pointed towards Joseph, where her focus should lay, more malice in his eyes than usual. 

Joseph’s sermon went by quick, the most notable quote was, “And so train the young women to love their husbands and children.” and mostly that of similar caliber with small plans for Eden's Gate and bunker preparation in between. When Joseph finished up, he stepped down and personally said his salutations to his flock before heading towards Rena. He crouched down in front of her and took her hand in his. 

“Lamb, it is time to see your surprise.” 

“I think, I already saw her,” Rena told him smiling at Evelyn before turning back to give him a small frown, “You know this isn’t what I meant when I said getting in contact with her right?” 

"If you would like I can return your gift?" He joked and started to push her out of the church. "But that is only half of your surprise," Joseph stated vaguely. Rena laughed a little before shaking her head feeling selfish, wanting to keep Evelyn here a bit longer. At the mention of another half of surprise, she gave him a concerned look.

“Come on,” John said standing and offering Evelyn a hand up, “Let’s go see her.” Evelyn took his hand and nervously made her way over to Rena. 

"Rena.. what happened?" She asked, already knowing what John had told her but wanting to hear from her partner's side of the story. "Are you alright?"

“I’m both excited and terrified to see you,” Rena told her giving her a smile, “I-someone shot me when I was running away, I-I can’t walk for too long yet.” She tried to explain without setting off either John or Joseph.

"Well, I'm glad you're alive at least. I thought-" Evelyn bit the side of her cheek, not wanting to jinx herself.

“I’m really sorry, I let you down and-” 

Before Rena could finish her sentence John rose a hand, “Let’s get both of you to a place where you can talk privately hm? No need for either of you to air your confessions out in the public.”

“You’re going to leave us alone?” Rena asked both of them wondering if they considered how dangerous for them it would be.

Joseph spoke up, "Do you think we have anything to worry about in doing so?" Joseph began to push her again. "It'll only be for a short moment, Lamb."

“We have one more surprise for both of you,” John told them as he led the way back to Joseph’s cabin. Evelyn kept her pace close to Joseph and Rena. 

"I hate surprises."

***

When the remaining Seeds left the scene, Rena and Evelyn were in the small living room seated on the couch. Once the door closed and Rena knew they were both alone she moved to hug Evelyn bringing her in close, afraid she’d never get the chance to again. Evelyn looked around while patting her back, questioning if she had been staying here the whole time and cursing herself for not bothering to check Joseph's compound. 

"I'm going to get you out of here," Evelyn whispered, squeezing Rena back into an assuring embrace. "Peaches misses you and I got some new people you'd love to meet."

"How is she?" Rena asked feeling worried, "And I can't wait to see her but," Her voice trailed off, unsure if she should even say anything.

“She’s still terrifying.” Evelyn said humorously, Evelyn stilled suddenly tensed, “But?”

“I’m sorry, I just watched, I couldn’t move it was too frightening with my trigger,” Rena told her pulling away at last feeling herself start to sniff, “You were left with Jacob and then my foot.” She looked down at it, “You must have been worried, I’m sorry, I kept asking for a walkie or something so I could let you know I was okay.” 

"Hey, it's alright. What matters is that we are both still kicking." Evelyn's mind flashed back to the man that John had shot and gritted her teeth. "Is this where you been the whole time, with Joseph? What's been going on?" 

“He’s been um taking care of me personally,” Rena tried to explain skin flushing as she felt the familiar shame come back to her. 

"Taking _ care _ of you?" Evelyn squinted her eyes at that unusual statement. Rena spoke up before Evelyn had time to question it again. 

Lorena stalled feeling her anxieties plague her still unsure if she should even mention what happened last night, "How are you though why are you here with John?" 

"He offered to take me to you if I spent a day with him." Saying it out loud made the sentence sound odd on her tongue. "That makes...some sense," Rena told her thinking about how most of the time he asked her about Evelyn, how to win her over. Rena tried to give answers that would force him to be nicer, she hoped it worked for the rest of hope county's sake. 

"That’s not important. Are you alright though?" Evelyn asked looking her over again as if her mental scars would be visible. 

"It is important, _ you're _ important." Rena told her squeezing her hands, "Especially to me."

“I ...uh... You are to me too,” Evelyn pulled away nervously, unsure what to think of her sudden rush of affection. “What do you mean when you said he was taking care of you? Like nursing you?” Evelyn furrowed her brow trying to understand.

Rena nodded sighing as she continued to press her on it, “Last night, I had a fever and the pain in my foot got beyond what I could bear,” Lorena explained, it had been hurting for a while, but she always had a high pain threshold. “He-he gave me bliss tea and dunked me in bliss water to cool me off and-and I begged him to…” She cut herself off her cheeks red from the shame of her moment of weakness. The more Evelyn listened, the more her face dropped, giving Rena a horrified look in return.“We slept together.”

“He drugged you?” she harshly breathed back. “Is that why...” She looked around for something to grasp her mind on why he had been so affixed on Lorena.

“Its-its my own fault, I should have been more careful, I chose to drink it.” Rena told her, “I-I said yes and kept touching him and wanted to get even closer.” Her face scrunched as she broke eye contact.

“What!? You were blissed,” Evelyn hissed out angrily. “It wasn’t your damn fault. Stop saying that.” Evelyn shot up from the couch and started pacing. “I’m going to kill him.” She stormed to the front door, ready to do something tactless.

“Lyn, no!” Rena said frantically getting up to hobble after her, “We’re surrounded here, you could get hurt or worse.” 

At the same time, Joseph had opened the door stunned to see her standing right on the other side. “If you’re ready… It’s time to see-” Not letting him say another word, Evelyn swung her fist towards him, connect with his nose. Almost immediately, the peggies on the other side drew their guns and aimed them at her. She stepped back, watching Joseph raise a hand to his followers, a silent order for them to lower their weapons. Rena turned the corner shrinking as she caught the end of the standoff, staying quiet, not sure if saying anything would make things better for Lyn or not. Joseph, however, only brought a single digit to his nostrils and examined the blood on his finger.

“If you’re_ done _. It’s time to take you to your next gift.” Joseph tilted his head, staring down Evelyn as if to challenge her next move. When she didn’t respond, Joseph smiled and swiveled around, heading towards a building expecting them to follow. Rena let out a shiver and hobbled back to her chair rubbing her arms. Evelyn wordlessly made her way back to Rena, gripping the handles behind her chair tightly before pushing after Joseph. Rena let out a tense breath.

“Do you have any idea what it is?” She was unsure if John mentioned it to her. Evelyn shrugged, suddenly on edge with a bad feeling forming in her gut. Joseph held the door open for them both, ushering them into the brick building and into one of the rooms. On the inside it was empty, besides a table in the middle of the room with two guns and three chairs that seated three individuals with cloth bags over their heads, muttering incoherent pleas. Jacob stood imposingly behind them, legs apart and arms folded over his chest, while Faith stood alongside the wall and upon noticing Rena, her eyes found themselves looking anywhere but on her. Joseph nodded to his older brother, encouraging him to take off the hoods. 

Jacob gleefully did so looking back up at Lyn confident, “You’ll know what to do.” 

“It’s your second chance,” John told her sparing Jacob a look not wanting to be outdone. Before them on the ground were the three people that tortured them throughout their lives.

Evelyn’s face paled at the man before her, still the same but aged over time. Thinning brown hair, discolored with white strands. Beady eyes that sat above a crooked nose. Teeth stained yellow from repetitive smoking, bared in her direction. She took a step back, disoriented and shaking, from what she couldn’t describe more like fear or resentment. 

The man scoffed, just as surprised to see her as well. “Should have known you were the cause of this you little rat.” 

Rena’s eyes started to water immediately hearing her mother’s voice start to try to vocalize her name, slurring the Lor- in Lorena, setting off one of the triggers she was normally able to avoid. She didn’t want to remember her face, see her now grayed hair, messy dress, the same hoops she always used to wear. 

“No,” Rena breathed out shaking her head, “No, no, no-no.” 

Her Uncle was to the right of her, bald and angry just with more wrinkles in his eyes. The same cheap gold band around his neck, “-the fuck.” he muttered out seeing Rena. 

“I-I can’t be here, I don’t know what you want me to do but I’m not, I’m _ not.” _She repeated unable to look up at them not wanting to see them again. She left so she wouldn’t have to, she left so she’d be free. 

Joseph took her hand, “We are giving you the option to not have to run anymore, Lamb.” Joseph nodded his head to the gun.

"I-I got away, I-I wasn't running," Rena said unable to stop herself from crying but still able to give Joseph a death glare. He simply watched her gesturing his head trying to will her to look at her family.

“This is your gift,” John told them both watching Evelyn. “Whether or not you take it is up to you.”

“But if you don’t kill them, and cull the herd,” Jacob explained further, “We will.” 

Faith spoke up, raising her head to them. “In order to achieve deliverance, you must be willing to let go of the past. It is the first step to walking the path.” 

Evelyn swallowed heavily, shaking her head. “How?" Her breathing became shorter more erratic, " No! This isn’t-” 

The man across from her spat, “I don’t know what the fuck this is, but you won't get away with it. So tell them to let me go, Little Bird.” 

Hearing her nickname once used so lovingly, spill from his lips made the blood boil inside her. She gritted her teeth and growled back animalistically, pointing a finger at him. 

“You killed them. You should be rotting in prison.” 

“No _ sweetheart _. I didn’t kill your mess of a mother. Lauryn was depressed, broken, pathetic, and when it came down to showing that bitch her place, it was a waste of my energy. She took the cowardly way out, leaving me with two useless kids.” The man spread his legs apart in a futile attempt to get comfortable. “Look at you now though, think you’re all grown, all big and bad. But you’re just like them. Fucking wea-” 

Not wasting any time Evelyn rushed over to grab the gun, pushing the table out of the way, and slammed the blunt end down on to his jaw, letting out an unbridled and heated snarl of rage. John blinked a bit surprised by the brutality while Jacob merely crossed his arms immersed in her actions. The man groaned, turning his head to the left to spit out the crimson liquid filling his mouth. 

“Bitch- You had a chance to kill me last time, little bird. What happens then, huh? You gonna pussy out this time too?” She gripped his shirt, pressing the muzzle of the pistol to his forehead. 

Evelyn breathed wildly, her jaw clenched, “You don’t deserve to die.” With that being said she aimed the gun at his knee and pulled the trigger, slightly shocked that it had actually been loaded. She stepped back and watched the man curse and scream in pain, spouting vile names towards her. Her eyes narrowed and she swung the gun again, this time aimed at his head, hitting him hard enough to go quiet. She threw the gun on the ground in disgust. “I don’t care what happens to him. But... I want him to suffer before he dies.” Evelyn stared lifelessly at the unconscious man, not making an attempt to move.

“We can make that happen,” Jacob told her picking up the limp body, to take out of the room and out of her sight, “Good job pup.” He added patting her head before giving her step-father to a guard waiting outside of the room, quickly returning for the next pair.

“You were, more brutal than I was expecting all things considered,” John told her watching her reactions carefully.

Evelyn gripped her arms and shuffled to the vacant wall, leaning against it. She didn’t want to hear that coming from a man who’s idea of atoning was to “filet” someone. She just wanted to get out of this room, go home back to her normal boring life. Rena, however, was still shaking in her wheelchair refusing to even look at the gun or anyone else. She just stared at her hands as if she could will this all away. 

“Why are you just sitting there!” Lorena’s Uncle Kalen shouted, “Untie us!”

“Or…" Clarissa spoke slowly as if trying to taunt her, knowing she could make her cry at the drop of a hat. "Get it ovvver with.” Rena’s mother said slurring again, clearly high on bliss. 

Rena felt herself freeze again as she was triggered tears streaming through her eyes again, her emotions beyond her control, “She’s going to trigger me, t-they’re going to keep triggering me,” She tried to tell Joseph, begging to go. Joseph only knelt down to wipe the tears from her eyes. 

“Lamb, these are the steps you have to take, didn’t you tell Faith you’d walk the path, hm?” Faith looked down at her feet as he said so. Rena let out a tense breath as if just hearing Faith's name reminded her of her past fuck-ups. Realizing that no one was going to wheel her out, Rena slowly tried to get up keeping her bad foot off the ground.

“I-I refuse, I-I can’t be here.” Joseph held onto her arm lightly, worried she would fall but also in an attempt to keep her stationed and still, 

“Loren-” They were silenced by a bizarre witch-like cackle erupting from Lorena’s mother, cause Rena to freeze her eyes growing larger for a second before her body started to physically shake. 

Her last trigger finally showed itself.

“She won’t do it, she knows what she is a fu-” Before Clarissa could get out another word Rena had turned sharply both feet on the ground.

“Shut the _ fuck _up,” She growled out, tone lower, no longer light and airy like it usually was. 

“You can’t talk to me like tha-” 

“Look where you are mom!” Lorena shouted back at her immediatly, “What the fuck do you think is going to happen?” Her foot was clearly getting irritated, but Rena couldn’t feel the pain anymore. Joseph released his grip and watched her with curiosity. Although knowing the basics of what occurred between them, he decided to push her forward. 

“What happened, Lamb?” Joseph instigated, cocking his head to the side.

“What the hell do you think happened?" Lorena snapped turning to him now with her rage, "You brought the two people who psychologically and physically tortured me for _ years _ back into my life. You let one set me off three times.,” She accused him, jabbing her finger into his chest. Joseph merely watched her blue eyes taking in the changes of tone the bleeding in her foot from the open stitches. Clearly she couldn't feel the pain in this state of anger.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” Rena asked Joseph, “Some saint for giving me the chance to do something I never even dreamed of? I left them because I wanted to leave this shit behind! To never see them again, I never wanted to be triggered because someone wants to woo me. Or Save me when I already saved myself!” Joseph continued to stand there, allowing her to unleash her rage against him. He hummed and bent over to pick up the other gun that had been thrown off the table and laid carelessly by their feet. 

“They are what’s holding you back from salvation.”

“No screw you! Why did you think this would be a good idea? You called it a surprise! News flash! I hate hurting anyone!” Rena spat, “I-I don’t want to become them! I won’t let you make me become them. But no matter what I do this is my fault, they’re going to-” Her eyes watered at that thought, but her body stayed rigid, she was clearly starting to have a breakdown. “Fuck.” 

“As we said before this was an option, Lamb. No one is making you do anything.” Joseph placed the gun down on the table and gripped her shoulders with a slight force. “You are making the right choice.” Joseph nudged his head towards the door, urging someone to take Rena’s family out of the room and be disposed of. 

“I-I can’t do this,” Lorena told them definitely as she shook body coming down from her rage. 

“Shhh… It’s alright, Lamb. It is done. Let’s go home.” Joseph lightly pressed down on her shoulders, pressing her to sit back in her chair. Joseph looked over to Faith and his brothers before wheeling her out, “You know what to do.” and headed out the door.

Faith stepped forward towards Evelyn who had been now sitting on the floor, still hushed and conscience-stricken from her earlier encounter. Faith bent over slightly holding out a hand as if to help her up, but instead, blowing a glowing green familiar dust into her face. 

When Evelyn was knocked out Jacob scooped her up much to John’s distaste, “Calm down Johnny, you can come to visit, no need to throw a tantrum.” 

“Stop looking so smug then,” John snapped before storming out leaving Faith alone in the room. The Blonde slowly left watching Rena be wheeled off again in the distance feeling a wave of guilt wash over her.

  
  



	10. Break Free

Joseph knocked on the door to her bedroom, opening the door slightly ajar. “I made you some breakfast.” Using his elbow to push the door, he carried in a tray holding a plate of maple drizzled pancakes and orange juice. “How are you feeling today?” Rena, however, didn’t move to look at him, staying curled in her position on the bed spacing out. Her eyes stared at the window, she was unsure if she even slept last night. She blinked finally looking at him as he stood in front of her. Joseph tightened his lip and put the tray down over her. 

“It seems like you are doing much better. No more fever, that’s a start.” He told her after placing a hand to her forehead. Lorena nodded before staring down at the food, taking the cup to drink the juice. 

“I-I don’t think I’m really hungry right now.” She told him weakly. He nodded and took the tray away, setting it on the side table. 

“That’s alright.” Joseph looked down at her foot, rewrapped and restitched, from being recently ripped open the previous tense night. “Do you need anything? Books, Music, I can bring you anything you like.” Rena looked at her side table seeing her iPod already there, and slowly she shook her head

“I’m fine,” she told him not bothering to smile to convince him. She took another sip of the drink, “Could I sit on the balcony today?” 

Joseph’s eyes softened, “Of course.” Joseph got up from the bed and retrieved her crutches which he had recently brought her conveniently after the family reunion. “You had someone from the church ask about you yesterday,” Joseph stated, with an unreadable expression. “Friend of yours?” 

Rena took the crutches from him taking a minute to remember, “Oh, sort of?” She said feet slowly hitting the ground as she got up, “They decided to talk to me, we talked about music it was nice. Most of your congregation likes to just stare at me, they didn’t know me.” She avoided bringing up the comments others made about her, not wanting him to wage any more wars.

“Well, I’m glad to see you getting along with the members.” Joseph retorted pleased. “The others may just need a bit more time to warm up to you.” Moving in front of her, Joseph drew opened the balcony door and held it open for her. She grabbed her i-pod and started to move to the balcony, it only took her a few steps to get into the swing of propping herself up with them, she stopped pausing for a second unsure how to phrase what she wanted to say.

“It’ll probably be better if you don’t hover over me as much,” she tried to advise. She needed distance, space to breath and morn even if it wasn’t deserved, “You’re busy, with everything still, I’ll be okay alone for a little while.” 

Joseph brought a hand to his chin and rubbed his beard, “I do have some work to tend to.” His eyes flickered over her, “You’ll be alright on your own for-” Joseph raised his arm and peeked at his watch. “-two hours or so?”

“I’ll be fine,” Rena told him, “More so now that I have these.” She held up the crutches towards him giving a nod.

“Alright, I will see you when I get back.” Joseph brushed his thumb across her face, pushing a strand of hair aside and leaned in to press his lips to her forehead. Rena did her best not to flinch or pull away feeling her depression suck her further in. Only two days ago the man had her parental figures pulled away from their own lives and murdered. It was hard enough just being in the same house as him let alone having him continue to play caretaker with her. 

“The house phone is there if you need me.” With that, Joseph headed for the door. Lorena got settled on the balcony staring out at the scenery putting her headphones in. She sat in one of the chairs just watching the grass move in the distance for a good while. She almost drifted asleep again when she saw a familiar tail sticking out of the area. 

Almost immediately she stood up and called out to her, “PEACHES!” 

One of the passing members of the cult flinched and looked up surprised towards the balcony. They pointed to themselves, not really sure how to respond to the  _ catcall _ , looking around and questioning if it really had been for them. Their eyes landed on an animal like head popped up out of the bushes and they stumbled backward in fear, running off to warn someone at the church. Rena grabbed the crutches and worked her way down the stairs as quickly as she possibly could. When she reached the front door she flung it open and raced to her cat who looked over her concerned. Rena dropped her crutches and dropped to her knees to give the cat praise and to pet her, almost tearing up that she came looking for her.    
“You are such a good cat,” Lorena praised her, “I don’t have any of your treats though I’m sorry, come on I’ll see what we can make do with.” She told her as Peaches sniffed her injured foot. Rena got up carefully grabbing the crutches again moving back towards the house. Without delay, a group of guards started searching around in the bushes, confused to see that they hadn’t found the cougar the man had been talking about. One of them pulled out their walkie and explained the situation. Only a few minutes later Joseph rushed home, throwing open the door. 

“Rena?” Not hearing her respond, Joseph panic began to strike him, he raced up the stairs quickly and burst through her bedroom. Joseph froze, suddenly taken aback by the scene in front of him, watching as Rena sat on her bed, petting a giant cat. Rena was sitting with the cougar's head in her lap looking up from scratching behind its ears.

“Did you get done early?” She asked as if nothing was wrong. Peaches turned to look at Joseph before letting out a low growl, shifting her position so she was in front of Rena, ready to strike. She hesitated to calm the cougar down right away, liking the idea of having a little more control over her situation more distance.

“I heard there was a wild animal loose on the compound," Joseph started cautiously. “, and it seems that you befriended it?” He said, unsure what to gather from the events unfolding in front of him. Joseph drifted closer, taking slow meticulous steps. 

“This is my cat,” Rena told him smiling down at her petting her head as Peaches continued to get louder, “Shhh.” She told her, “It’s okay, he won’t hurt me.” She told her cat watching as it settled down again, huffing doubtfully at her as its head returned to her lap, “Her name is Peaches.”

"I see," Joseph stilled, not wanting to get mauled in his own home. He ran a hand through his hair, thinking about what the plan from here is, if he should get rid of the cat or if it would distress Lorena more, "Where did she come from?" 

“I got her after the first time you guys blissed me,” Rena explained, “Mabel, the woman who runs the taxidermy place in Hebane, lost her, I thought she meant an actual cat, and I was on my way back to Falls End so I figured I could stop and help. I wouldn’t have to kill anyone for getting a cat out of a tree.” She explained laughing a little, mood already doing better just a few minutes of being reunited with her. Joseph sighed and his shoulders untensed. He had missed this, Lorena acting like her normal light and airy self. Joseph took a seat far enough not to anger the cougar and softly smiled, continuing to listen to her explain the cat’s origin. 

“But then I found out she was a cougar, and she was a bit bloodier than I expected. I took her back and Mabel told me I could have her. She helped me a lot with clearing out places, it's hard to sneak up on me when she’s around.” Rena explained before cooing down at Peaches again, “She’s such a good cat that she got worried and came and found me today. So smart and brave.” Peaches purred clearly happy to have her new owner back tail flicking slowly content. 

"And I assume you expect me to allow you to keep a giant wildcat in our home?" Joseph raised a brow, the asserted tone there but the smirk on his face said otherwise.

“I’d love to see you try and take her from me,” Rena told him returning the tone, though she seemed much more playful. She slid a finger down Peaches’ nose, not wanting to trigger her pet. At least not this early.

"One injury. And she's gone. Understand?" Joseph crossed his arms, firmly casting her a glance that one might a child. "And she stays off the couch."

Rena smiled up at him unable to stop herself as she nodded, “As long as you let me send her away instead of hurting her.” She told him before holding out her hand to him. Joseph inhaled and thought for a moment. 

"I would keep her inside for now, so I can inform everyone to keep their guns to their hips." Joseph thought of how odd that conversation would be when the time came for it. "I will try my best to assure no harm comes to her though." He took her hand watching as she guided it to Peaches’ flank, making him move slowly before letting go to continue to pet her face. 

“You must have been so worried, Evelyn and I both gone. Next time just go to Jess okay?” She told her in a soft voice watching as Peaches just blinked slowly back at her.

***

When Evelyn awoke again, it was in a cage, face down in the dirt. She wearily lifted herself up, mouth dried from dehydration. She wore only one shoe and a dirty version of the dress she remembered putting on the day before. In front of her stood the red-headed man and to the right of him her coworker, Pratt, with his eyes glued to the floor. 

“What is this?” She rasped. Jacob placed some clothes through the bars for her, knowing she’d wind up sick if she stayed in the ridiculous dress his brother picked out for her. He then sat in a chair in front of the cage, motioning for Pratt to bring her the bowl of slop. 

“Seven days,” he lead withdrawing out every word, “You must be hungry.” Evelyn’s eyes quickly darted to the food, suspiciously filled inside what looked like a dog bowl. She reached hesitantly, her pride wanting to hold her back, instead took large handfuls and reluctantly ate the horrible tasting concoction, holding back the urge to hurl. Jacob continued with his speech watching her as Pratt came behind him with a knife. 

“Did you know that it takes 10 days for civilization to collapse?” He leaned his neck back letting Pratt give him a shave. Evelyn stared bewildered at her coworker, wondering why he didn’t take this chance to finish him off and get her out of this cage. 

She gritted her teeth, “The hell are you getting at!?”

“I’m saying that, if you take away a man’s or woman’s basic needs and they’ll revert to his primal instincts in just ten days,” Jacob told her eyes looking down at her. “And you’ve been here for seven.” 

“Seven?” Evelyn muttered and licked her dry lips. She’s been out for a week? Instantly, her mind flashed to Rena and she cursed herself. She left her thereafter she had promised to get her out and now here she was, sitting pathetically in a cage. 

“Did you live comfortably with that asshole and your family, big house or apartment?” He questioned her as Pratt flicked away some hair off the knife he was working with.

Evelyn glared and responded harshly, the tone in his voice making her feel the need to defend herself, “That  _ asshole _ had put us in debt.” Clumsily she tried to stand, her legs numb and shaking from fatigue and days of not being used. She used the bars to stabilize herself, and now was the one to stare down at him, almost challengingly.

“Good, losing yourself to hunger is a difficult thing to understand unless you’ve lived through it,” Jacob explained smirking, pausing as Pratt graced over an incredibly delicate part of his neck, "And now I know you’ve had a taste of it.” Catching Evelyn pleading gaze, Pratt lowered his shamefully. He was too weak. He knew what she wanted him to do. But he couldn't. He would never be strong enough.

“I had my taste when I was in Iraq during the first Gulf War. Eighty-second, airborne Americans. Hoo-rah. One night there was an ambush.” He told her as Prat moved with a canteen to wash Jacob’s hands with. The cool water running over them as he rubbed them together continuing on with his speech, “Me and this guy named Miller got separated from the Unit.”

“No food, no radio,” he shifted in his seat to face her again, “Nearest base 200 clicks to the south so we just started walking.” He took the canteen from Pratt then looked back at her, neutral expression on his face. “What do you think happened?” Evelyn shifted uncomfortably. She shook her head unsure if the question had been rhetorical. Evelyn's eyes flickered to the canteen, her tongue dry and sticky.

"You.. got lost." 

“Exactly, by the third day it was easy to tell, on the sixth day we ran out of water,” he took a sip, “You know what that’s like Dontcha? Difficult to swallow.” He spat a bit out, clearly messing with her. “On the seventh day, Miller’s legs started going all wonky.” He shifted so he was facing her, “Did you know that your brain starts to eat your muscles in order to survive?” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Evelyn realized her limbs felt heavy, her legs barely able to handle her standing still for so long. She gripped the bars tightly for support noticing how sickly her arms had become. 

“That’s why your so god damn skinny,” Jacob told her, “Now by the 8th day the wolves were closing in,” he raised his hands, “And I looked at Miller and I could tell we were as good as dead, and I accepted that.” He rested them down on his legs, posing completely relaxed despite the story he was telling. “And in that acceptance came clarity. You see I wasn’t just looking at Miller,” He took Evelyn by her collar and raised her up slowly. “I was looking at an opportunity.” Evelyn gripped his hands, wearily trying to peel them off her, a small grunt escaping her lips. “It wasn’t something that I wanted, it was something that I had to do, It was…” he paused before smiling at her, “It was my test.”

A feeling of dread started to creep up inside her. He wasn't implying that he.. Evelyn's eyes fell to the bowl of mystery slop and the urge to hurl returned. No. Even that was too far. But she couldn't put him past it, the memory of Jess telling her and Rena that one of his men tried to force children to eat their parent’s toes materialized in her mind. Pratt brought over the music box, but Jacob let it be staring at her, wanting to see how far she could push herself.

“Now you see, Miller’s sacrifice wasn’t about me walking out of that dessert, It was about bringing me here. The weak have their purpose, you’ve seen it with your co-workers.” 

The courage to speak up came to her quickly "I don't give a shit about your tragic backstory. Let me out." Evelyn tried to sound intimidating, but her voice came out hoarse and weak. 

“No,” Jacob told her firmly, “You had your chance to cull but you didn’t finish the job, we have to toughen you up Evelyn, get you ready to be an asset to us.” Finally noticing the music box, she started to back up. Before thinking of placing her hands over her ears, her vision turned red.

***

Joseph laid a dress out on Lorena's bed for her and lightly pressed a hand to her shoulder to rouse her. Lucky for him Peaches had slowly grown more passive around him, still, he figured he'd stay cautious and wake her from the side the cat hadn't been napping on. Rena laid curled up next to her, one arm around Peaches, and the other over her head, she only started to stir a little when he entered the room.

"Lamb? Wake up, remember we have that community picnic to attend to." Joseph smoothed his hand over her cheek, admiring the angelic tranquillity adorned on her face. Rena woke up slowly blinking as she saw how close he was too tired to move away.

“Oh, I wasn’t sure if I was invited to that or not,” she told him honestly slowly moving to sit up, careful to not disturb Peaches. 

"I figured you'd want to get some fresh air, Good food, Music." Joseph reached into a closet and pulled out a fresh towel in case she wanted to take a shower before going. "And I promise it's not Eden's Gate Music." Joseph chuckled, looking over his shoulder to watch her reaction.

Lorena smirked at that, “Thank god.” She paused for a second before a frown fell on her face. “Will, um, Faith be there?” Rena asked him feeling her nerves build a little, it hurt to be around her and unable to talk. She missed being able to ramble about small things with her, and she always just looked so sad now. 

He turned to her, silent for a moment. "No. Neither Faith, John or Jacob will be there. As much as I would like them to be, they are working hard for the project." Joseph handed her the towel. 

“Ah, okay,” Rena said in response before reaching to grab the dress, taking the towel from him with her other hand.

"I'll be downstairs when you're done." 

Rena nodded getting up slowly to grab her crutches and move into the bathroom. She showered quickly not bothering to braid her hair instead of just drying it letting it puff up a bit. She slowly slipped into her dress buttoning it up and tying her best bow in the front. She gave herself a look over in the mirror, she didn’t have quite as many bags under her eyes as she used to. Most of her cuts and bruises from running around and trying to clear Peggie bases were healed and missing, and it was all startling for a moment. 

She was brought out of it when she heard Peaches nuzzling at the bathroom door, quickly she grabbed her crutches to greet her and then head downstairs. Peaches followed her closely still very cautious over her injury. “Okay,” she told him, “I think I’m ready.” 

***

When they arrived, there were still a few people still setting up tables and chairs. Children ran around their parents gleefully and a man and woman were set up on a small modest stage, the instruments consisting of a banjo and fiddle. Also near the stage was Cass, happily questioning the woman about her fiddle and making not so good imitating gestures. Joseph helped Rena out of the car and handed her her crutches.

"We may be a bit early. If you want you can help us decorate and get everything together."

“Oh, sure,” Rena said taking them looking at the peaceful scene, not used to the project looking so normal and outside of the cult. Joseph grabbed her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles.

"Get comfortable. I am going to greet everyone. I'll be right back, Lamb." Rena nodded, trying not to let herself get flustered at the action as she moved towards the stage to greet Cass. 

“Hi!” She called to them walking as fast as she could nodding to the others on the stage, “Trying to get them to change the setlist?” 

"Nah, trying to see if they'll let me do a killer fiddle solo sesh. Used to be in a band back in days. Granted, I played drums, and yeah was only in the band for 4-5 days. But, I know we could have gone far. We had potential." Cass looked off into the distance, shaking their head in remembrance, before quickly whipping back to Rena. "Hey, good to see you though!" The two-man band seemingly more at ease now that Cass had averted their attention. “Thought you were dead or something.” 

Lorena gave them an apologetic look, “I just re-opened my foot.” She told them sparing the details, “It, been healing a lot better now though.” She told Cass swinging it for show.

“Now you can bust a move when the jams startup.” Cass started heading to the food table and picking at the various different appetizers. “Don’t you think these are ironic to have at a religious get together?” Cass picked up a deviled egg.

“A little bit,” She said laughing before looking Cass over, “Are you doing okay?” Rena couldn’t help but ask, “Is everyone being nice to you here?” Cass raised a brow at Rena confused, mouth full of egg. 

“What do you mean? I think everyone’s pretty cool here, kinda weird to be honest.” Cass chewed slowly and swallowed. “If you don’t mind me asking, Why did you join the Project? I feel like everyone has a story...  and I heard some rumors, but my mama always told me not to stick my nose in things that it doesn't belong in ... But, I’m just curious.” Cass awkwardly smiled. 

“Well um, I haven't joined yet,” Rena told her not wanting to lie as she grabbed an egg as well, “And most of the rumors that you’ve heard are probably true. I was a cop and got shot while trying to escape my atonement, now I’m here.” 

“Oh- Yeah that was the rumor- Def.” Cass awkwardly chuckled, “Wait, you  _ don’t _ want to be here?” They placed down their plate of assorted goodies and turned to give them a confused look. “Why’d you get shot?” 

“I-I’ve been fighting with the resistance, knocking out people to get them to stop trying to kidnap people who don’t want to join the Project,” Rena explained gently realizing that Cass might not know what had been going on out there. Cass froze and looked around at their surroundings.

“They- uh, didn’t seem that bad. Are you serious?” Cass ran a hand through their hair and whispered to Rena, “I didn’t know about this. I had no idea. Swear.” 

“It’s okay, I believe you, that’s why I’ve been trying to convince them to not kill people,” Rena told them giving them a reassuring smile. “You’re honestly the first person to talk to me here,” Rena said grabbing a piece of watermelon next, “I didn’t want to scare you away.” Rena tried to explain to them giving Cass a guilty look. 

“It’ll take a lot more than that to scare me off.” Cass reassured, “I uhh didn’t know all that was going on, though. I'm not sure how to f-” 

Joseph walked over, politely interrupting the two of them, “Rena, I want to introduce you to some people of our flock.” He placed a hand on the small of her back and gave Cass a leave-taking nod. “I am stealing her away for just a moment. I will return her to your conversation after.”

“Ah,” Rena blinked and nodded unsure what else she could really do, “I’ll see you in a second, save me a seat?” 

“Yeah sure...” Cass replied now looking uncomfortably at Joseph. 

Joseph led her underneath a large canopy and in front of a small group of Eden’s Gate members. “This is Brother Allen, he is our program assistant, helps keep us organized.” Joseph held out his hand to Allen who promptly nodded towards her. “Brother Dan and Sister Madi, who provide us with the music you hear here.”

The two smiled at Rena, “Oh yeah, we saw you over there with your friend, quite the card that one.” The woman stated, her voice thick with an unrecognizable accent. 

“It’s nice to meet you, The Father had spoken a lot about you. Good things. ” Dan finished after his partner. 

“It’s nice to meet both of you,” Rena said offering her hand to shake, getting much better at balancing herself on her crutches. 

Joseph introduced the others, making sure to personally explain how they help him and with the Project. “I wanted everyone to get well acquainted with you, seeing that you’ll be assisting and getting more familiar with our people.” 

“What we expect out of The Mother to our Father, we promise to support you just as we do Him.” A man spoke up smiling brightly. 

Rena blinked at that, no one had ever addressed her as that name to her face “Excuse me? The Mother?”    
“The title may seem more intimidating than you think. But, I’m sure you won’t have a hard time fulfilling the role, The Father says you’re a natural already.” 

“Well, I will let you get back to what you were doing. Make sure you get something to eat, My love.“ Joseph turned back to Allen, already deep in conversation. 

Rena gave him a small angry look before moving crutches back to Cass as quickly as she could, “What were the rumors that you heard of me?”    
Cass jumped up, surprised and twisted in their seat to face Rena. “Oh uh... I...” 

“Was it about being ‘ _ The Mother’ _ ?” She asked frantically.

“Yeah,” Cass said awkwardly looking down at their feet feeling guiltier for not bringing it up before.

“Fuck,” Rena said sitting down feeling herself enter a small panic as the festivities started to pick up around them.

***

Every time Evelyn woke up, she found herself still behind rusty cage bars and with a feeling worse then she had the day before. Evelyn groaned and rolled over to her side seeing the familiar military-grade boots greeting her from the other side. 

“Morning Pup,” Jacob greeted taking his usual seat, “We’re approaching day 9.” 

"What do you want?" She hissed, "Come to throw peanuts at me?" Evelyn asked with sarcasm, but thinking it over she probably wouldn't have minded it. Her stomach twisted and fought against her. 

Jacob snorted at that, “Honestly it’s just fascinating to watch you, usually people start getting really pathetic about now.” He gave her a small smile, “You’re still holding up though, giving me jokes.” 

"Glad I can be your main source of entertainment." Evelyn sat up on her elbows, chin high. No matter how bad this was going to get, she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of pleading. "Why don't you open the cage and get a better view." She taunted. 

“Oh, I’m not stupid,” Jacob told her still amused in her reactions even if she was trying to glare daggers at him. It was a shame they couldn’t have met earlier before everything, it would have been interesting to spar with her. “Even if I did, I’m not sure you’d last long given your state, spunk can only take you so far.” Evelyn knew he was right and could feel her body starting to shut down slowly. 

“Do you really think you can take on all of us by yourself?” Jacob asked her curious. “I have to admit it, you’ve got a knack for this stuff, but that will only get you so far.”

“Rather die trying then get starved and tortured,” Evelyn responded bluntly. 

“Let me remedy that partially, ready for your sip?” Jacob asked her pulling out the canteen that had only a smidgen of water left. He offered it to her, at a distance she’d have to stretch to reach for it. 

Evelyn let out a sound similar to a growl. She got up from the ground and reached her arm out through the bars, no later letting out a sound of defeat. “Screw you.” She snarled, and pulled her hand back, tired and not willing to get it anymore. “When I get out of here. I’m burning this place down, with you in it.” 

“I’d like to see that,” Jacob told her handing it to her before turning back to the door, a guard had come in with another small portion of food for Evelyn. “Feel free to make her work for it. She can take it.” He told him before leaving the room. The guard walked over holding another small bowl of slop, waiting for Jacob to leave before placing it down on the ground of her cage. 

Evelyn's eyes fell to the man's hip and landed on the baton, she moved quick, jolting up from her place and gripping the collar of his shirt pulling it hard towards her, slamming his head into the bars. While he was dazed, she skillfully pulled the baton off him and through the cage, tossing it far off behind her and out of view. The man grunted, holding his head and stumbling slightly backward. 

“You little shit!” The guard hastily pulled out his taser and brought it to her side. Evelyn fell to the ground, moaning and the guard spat towards her, before walking away. “Fucking bitch-” 

Evelyn waited until after midnight to make her move, adrenaline motivating her. The plan she constructed during her time being locked up finally being put to action. Evelyn grabbed for the dirty dress and looked around, before relieving herself onto it, wrapping it around the bars after wringing it out. She dug the baton out of the dirt and began to twist it around the wet cloth. 

Evelyn grunted and the thought of giving up arose in her head when her arms started to shake weakly. Quickly the going as it came when the bars began to bend slowly. Evelyn let out a noise of relief and squeezed through the small opening when it was big enough for her to fit through. Evelyn crouched behind a crate and examined her surroundings, it was too early to celebrate. When seeing that the coast was clear she crawled to the entrance of the veterans center, avoiding the lingering wolves. A man stood guard. Creeping behind, she wrapped an arm around his neck and snapped it, picking up his gun and walkie. Evelyn bolted out, not taking any time looking back. 


	11. Freedom

When they got home Rena stopped at the front door frown on her face, “Why are they calling me The Mother?” Joseph dug into his jeans to retrieve his keys, not looking up at her.

“Mmm, Because that is what God has told me.” he vaguely responded, opening and holding the door. He peeked inside and frowned at the sight of a large cat on his couch. 

"Joseph, please for once just explain to me what you expect of this," Rena begged, "What has God told you about me?" She asked rephrasing her question before telling Peaches to get off the couch. After shutting the door behind her, he sat her down on the couch and crouched to her height. 

“I’ve seen it. Us. Together.” Joseph took her hands into his own. “I’ve seen children. Our children running around the Garden.”Rena paled at that feeling another shiver run up her spine. 

"So, that's why you've been doing all of this keeping me here?" 

Joseph tilted his head and gave her a strained smile, “Have I not made it clear from the beginning? With everything, I’ve done for you? I know you could feel it too. The connection God has given us, so that we may survive this world and the next, through the flames of hellfire and into the safety of Eden.”

"You haven’t said anything about being a mother, I this-" She shook her head, knowing better than to point out how she’d be more focused on how unsettling it was that he was forcing this relationship while she couldn’t move properly. "-you told everyone else here before you even thought to tell me?"

Joseph inhaled slowly, “You wouldn’t have understood, Lamb. I wanted to ease you into it, not frighten you. Your injury was an unexpected turn I wasn’t prepared for though. So you ended up here a little earlier than I anticipated.” 

"How do you expect things to go if I wasn’t here early? You’ve told me that I’m not trapped here but when Evelyn came I didn’t get the choice to leave did I? " Rena questioned feeling her frustration over bubble again, "You act like you already have me, and know almost everything about me but I know next to nothing about you. You can't keep me here and just expect me to be a part of your plan willingly, especially if that's your only reason."Joseph sighed and stood up straight, his eyes narrowing all the while turning darker. 

“Time can change that and we’ll have plenty of it when the collapse does come. I am a patient man Lorena, but it runs thin when I am with you. Your purpose is by my side, the Mother to our flock. My wife.” Joseph leaned in, staring down over her, his face unreadable. Rena stared back up at him for a moment, reading his body language taking in what he said, trying to fight her gut reaction to scream at him. There were only a few choices left for her now that she had confirmed his intentions.

1\. Tell him to fuck off his high horse and sick Peaches on him.

It would certainly feel good and solve more than a few problems for her. However, she would not get far, and she no longer would have the protection he’s been giving her in enemy territory.

2\. Cry

That would just be useless, and a waste of time. It would make things tense again, she’d lose trust.

3\. Play along until her foot healed, or someone was able to rescue her.

This was becoming a clear winner, but she had to play her cards right. She couldn’t just give in to everything, it would be too obvious, she needed to do this slowly. Make it feel real, at least until she could chance running away again. Rena took another deep breath before looking back up at him letting her voice sound as weak and nervous as she was feeling.

“Is...is that the only reason you want me? Because God showed it to you?” 

Joseph softened his intense gaze almost immediately. Lorena let out a tiny breath of relief knowing he was already letting go of the clearly dangerous anger.

“At first.” he admitted, “But now... I can't see myself parting from you.” Joseph grabbed her slightly quivering hands again, looking desperately into her eyes. “When my wife died, I thought I would never be able to fulfill this _ emptiness _ . My Love, I crave the caress of your tender touches.” As he said this he lifted Rena’s hands to cup his face and pressed his lips to them. “And it pains me to hold myself back from you every night when I can have you _ safe _ embraced in my arms. Or beneath me, allowing me to fill you with my love.” 

“Y-You had a wife?” Rena asked him blinking before flushing at the rest of his blunt words desperate to change the subject slightly. She was amazed at how fast he changed his tone once she backed down, it was alarming how manipulative it all felt in just that small instance. “I just don’t understand, I’m not-I haven’t been exactly what I’d expect you to want.” 

Joseph hummed, "You don't give yourself enough credit, Lamb. Everything about you brings me joy. I yearn to see the passion and fire you hold behind those haloed honey eyes. To be able to wake up and hear the sweet tones of your laughter, your voice, far lovelier than any angels hymn.” Joseph stared deeply into her eyes, his voice never wavering. “Lorena, I don’t _ want _ you. I _ need _ you.”

Rena bit her lip as he poured out more affection, “I-If I even begin to think about this,” she said breaking eye contact, “Can you please tell me the truth from now on, right away? No more surprises, don’t go behind my back. That’s how relationships work.” She told him looking back into his eyes squeezing his hands. “Good ones anyway I hear.” Joseph raised his eyebrows and a smile far too wide to seem comfortable spread across his face. 

"Of course, My Love." Joseph lifting himself up to her placing his forehead on hers, followed by his lips. "I will be nothing but honest." 

“And we take it slow,” Rena told him letting him stay close, “You have to understand how overwhelming all of this is for me. I don’t have much experience with lasting non-platonic affection. The people I’ve let into my life, they never stayed.” That part was true, most of her romantic affairs were usually one night stands or relationships that ended because she had to transfer herself to another county because her trigger was revealed. Joseph inhaled and nodded, backing up slightly. 

"Alright. If that is what you wish. I will." Rena let out a sigh, feeling some of her tension leave her with some boundaries established.

“Thank you.” She told him giving him a peck on the lips, in a show of good faith. “That makes me feel much more comfortable.” Letting out a pleased sigh, Joseph got up and sat beside her. 

“If I’m being honest now. I suppose this would be a good time to tell you that in two days you will be heading to John’s for your atonement.”

Rena blinked at that before nodding, “Ah...I guess that makes sense, I’ve been here a while. He’s not going to rip my skin off is he?” She said thinking back to how the guard described it during the transport after the Baptism.

“No,” Joseph let out a difficult chuckle, “I can promise you, it won't be painful and If you want, I can be right there with you." Joseph placed his hand on Rena's knee, hoping it would reassure her. Rena looked down at his hand and the back up at him before nodding thinking about the last time she saw John lose his temper. 

“That would make it easier.” 

***

“I’m sorry to disturb you Sir, but one of the prisoners escaped,” the man looked down at the ground, hands held behind his back. Jacob frowned looking him over eyeing his wolf in the corner before saying. 

"Which one?"

The soldier swallowed hard and started to sweat, “Deputy Steele, Sir.” 

"How?" Jacob said snapping letting one of his judges back the guard into the corner.

“A dress and a baton,” He hesitated stumbling backward, wringing his hands nervously. 

"Whose baton?" Jacob questioned.

“M-mine Sir, She rushed at me- and I didn’t-” He pleaded with his eyes, holding up his hands at the snarling wolf. 

"Attack," he said at last watching as the wolf tore him to shreds. "Don't let her get far, double up the security at our bases." The other guards tensed at the sight of their comrade writhing on the ground, screaming as the dog ripped him to pieces. 

“Yes, Sir. Right away.” The soldier left, the rest following him out the door. Jacobs walkie crackled to life and a familiar voice spoke from the end of it. 

“_ Good thing I’m so _ ** _goddamn skinny_ ** _ . _”

***

“Did you get anything out of him, Tammy?” Evelyn walked in, water bottle in one hand, an energy bar in the other. She looked down at the man sitting in a chair placed in a kiddie pool, cables hooked to a battery and connecting to his limbs. “Anything about Rena?” 

"She's going to be going to John's," she told her rubbing her hands against her pants, "In two days, they have a protection convoy planned. She's going through atonement apparently."Evelyn nodded her thanks and rushed out the door, pulling out her walkie. 

“Jess you anywhere near the crossroads?” 

“_ Yeah, glad to hear you’re still alive, I heard a rumor that you and Rena kicked the bucket _ .” Jess’s voice came through, “ _ What do you need? I’m down to kill a few more of those sick fucks _.” 

“It’s Rena, Joseph’s got her. Going to send her to John’s for atonement. I need a group to help me get her the hell out of there. Working up a plan and figured you’d be a good arm to have.” 

“_ He took that Bean _ !?” Jess’s voice sounded pissed, “ _ Hell yeah, whatever you need, just give me a time I’ll be there, and I’ll pack all my arrows. Who else are you asking to come _?” 

"Cool, I can come to get you if you need it. We are meeting up at the Spread to explain the tactic. So far I got Nick and," Evelyn hesitated for a moment, hoping Jess wouldn't change her mind when she said, "Sharky. He's good firepower-" 

“_ Does he really have to come _?” Jess’s voice cut her off. 

"He's really useful with," Evelyn paused, thinking for a bit too long. "...Burning peggies and... distractions." 

“_ Fine, but don’t expect me to talk to him _ .” Jess told her, “ _ The last time he did he asked me to pop a zit on his back _.” 

_ ‘Yeah, that seemed like something he'd say’ _, Evelyn thought. She hadn't seen him in almost two weeks and part of her felt bad if she left him out on the action. "Yeah. That's understandable."

“I’ll be there in like an hour, gotta steal a car.” Jess huffed before going silent on the radio.

"See you there."

***

“How do you want to handle this? Big explosion, montage? She likes music right? Should we play something? I can get my speakers on a van,” Sharky said practically bouncing in his seat, after hearing about Rena from Evelyn he was excited to meet his new best friend’s other best friend.

“I’m sure she would love that but maybe, save that when we actually get her out of there. We don’t want to alert them at the start.” Evelyn gave him a small smile and patted him on the shoulder. 

“We shouldn’t go in guns blazing right away,” Jess pointed out, “We can snipe the tires, separate her vehicle from Joseph’s, get her out and then wreak havoc on those sons of bitches. And she’s injured so someone who can carry her is gonna have to be part of that stealth team.” 

“Shoot out their tires.” Evelyn nodded at Jess, “That’s a good idea.”

As eyes drifted to Sharky he blinked before placing a hand on his heart, “It would be an honor to help save your other bestie chica.” Evelyn let out a snort. 

“Great. Well, we got that part settled. You gotta make sure you stay unnoticeable, Shark. Make sure she gets out unharmed.”

“Can you even stay quiet for more than ten minutes Shark?” Nick asked.

“Me?! Of course, I can,” Sharky told him sounding offended.

“Prove it, right now,” Jess told him eye’s narrowing. Sharky mimicked zipping up his lips and smiled accepting the challenge. Evelyn rolled her eyes playfully and pointed down at her map. 

“Nick is scouting the skies, He’ll give us the go-to take action when they are far enough apart. Jess, you’re flanking from here. I can shoot out the tires, make them think they got a flat and pull over. You can take them out after.” 

“On it,” Nick said nodding, looking over the coordinates trying to memorize it.

“This sounds like it’s going to be messy, I like it,” Jess told her smirking.

“Shark. Once it’s clear I need you in and out. Start heading here.” Evelyn pointed off to an area on the paper. “Someone from the resistance will be there to pick you two up. Need you on that machine gun in case you’ve followed. They’ll be driving around to lose them and heading to Nicks when they’re sure of it.”

“I’ll tell Kim to hold up in the basement until we give her the clear just in case,” Nick told her, watching as Sharky nodded remaining quiet as promised.

“Once me, Jess, and Nick are all cleared up with the remaining peggies, we’ll meet up there. Any problems?” Evelyn crossed her arms and looked at the three. 

“No,” Jess said watching as the other two shook their heads, “Let’s smash some heads.” 

***

When Joseph left to check on other things in the bunker Lorena pulled the shoes out of the bag she claimed she was using to bring books for the drive over. John was still setting up his tattoo gun when he turned blinking surprised to see her walking over.

“Can I ask a favor?” [ Rena ](https://pin.it/ugmx3nkkd2o3j5) said meekly to him as she held the shoes that had a small apology note tucked away in them. “Can you give these to Faith?” 

John raised a brow at her before simply asking, “Why?” 

“I got her in trouble, now Joseph won’t let her talk to me, so I can’t apologize. These are just to let her know I’m sorry,” Lorena explained flushing a bit. John sighed, looking them over before taking them. 

“If this confession goes well, and if your honest, I’ll make sure they find their way to her.” John told her, “And...if Evelyn finds her way back to us, I’ll need more...advice.” 

Lorena sighed making a small face at him, “You should honestly just admit it at this point, she’s not...perceptive about those types of things. But that won’t make her like you, you have to show her a softer side or you don’t have a shot, John.” 

John let out a frustrated sigh before hiding the shoes somewhere Joseph wouldn’t see, “I’ll keep that in mind, go back and sit down before Joseph comes back.” 

Rena nodded hopping back into her chair looking around the room, “Is Joey okay?” 

“She’s fine, feisty, but she’ll reach her own atonement in time, just like Evelyn,” John told her dismissively as Joseph walked back into the room. She was far too soft to hear the details on how bloody of a process it was trying to convert her. Joseph placed a bottle of water and a small package of what looked like a trail mix on the table next to Lorena’s chair. 

“Just in case. Some people tend to faint during their reparations.” 

“We were waiting on you to get started,” John said meekly, never the same person in front of his older brother.

“Very well. Let us begin.” Joseph held out his hand and took a seat. Crossing his legs and watching.

“Lorena we need you to confess all the wrong you’ve done, throughout all of your life,” John explained. “Start from the beginning.” 

“That’s um a lot,” Rena said frowning before looking up at the ceiling trying to recall, “The first thing I can remember is when I complained about my mother not getting the right book for my birthday present. She worked three jobs back then and requested off so we could have a small party with a few of my friends. She um slapped me, so I guess it didn’t go unpunished.”

John shared a look with Joseph unsure if he should step in. Joseph furrowed his brow, tension building in his face, “Continue.” 

“Um there were a lot of small things, forgetting to take out the trash, not recycling after mom, there was one time my uncle wanted me to-” she swallowed some of her tension, “He wanted me to go out of town spend a night with one of his friends, when I was like 15, instead of just saying no I told him to fuck off, and he threatened me with one of his dogs and I told him where he could stick it,” Her eyes dropped to the ground, “The next night he delivered on that promise, lied to the paramedics told them the dog was wild and ran out and bit me in the street.” 

“And you believe you were in the wrong for that?” Joseph spoke, his voice slightly raised from displeasure. 

“I-” She felt a lump in her throat, she hated having to defend her thought process about her past, “I could have played it smarter, not been so reactive, therefore I was wrong.” 

“You are saying you deserved getting bitten by a dog, for not thinking clearly.” He spoke slowly, making sure she thought of how absurd the comment sounded. Joseph slouched forward, his hands held so tightly together that the skin turned white. “Alright, continue.”

“I-I didn’t say I deserved it,” Rena looked down at that feeling flustered for how it sounded before moving on,“The next time I can think of is I lied to the military, about my triggers,” Rena said hands folded in front of her, “I got only a few months into my training and they kicked me out because my roommate exposed me for crying after hearing them slur a word when they were drunk. I’ve been lying to the police since the academy. I got transferred a lot because small incidents with my triggers, the only reason I’ve stayed here as long as I have is that Evelyn and the Sheriff covered for me.” 

“Go, on Rena,” John told her smiling and nodding trying to be encouraging. 

“I’ve slept with a few people just to um…” she flushed not wanting to get into details, “get affection, or because I thought we were attached. After everything went to shit here, I hurt Evelyn by yelling at her for killing a peggie who was going to hurt me. I haven’t done enough for the resistance, haven’t helped her enough with this burden.” She felt herself start to tear up a little, sniffing she rubbed her eyes fast, “I killed one of your men by shooting his flamethrower’s tank, the cook I don’t regret it. And then I let Evelyn get captured because I couldn’t move, and I’ve-” She took a breath in thinking back of her time with Joseph. “I’ve cursed out and yelled at the person whose been taking care of me while I’ve been injured,” Rena said dropping eye contact, hoping one lie wouldn’t break her deal with John.

“Why did you even want to fight us?” John asked curiously, “You weren’t trying to kill people either. What was the point of resisting then?” 

Rena sighed, “I-I wanted to um, be better than you guys, do things the right way not kill people because I disagreed with them, drug or threaten them to think my way. I wanted to avoid bloodshed, see if there was a chance they could be swayed. You kidnapped all of my co-workers, you let your people die to save yourself,” Rena reminded Joseph specifically.

“But, you admit to killing one of our men for the sake of someone else. Is that not the same? Is standing by watching your friends slaughter people and still being able to take their side not selfish by allowing your own hands to stay clean?” Joseph tilted his head staring back at her with harsh intensity. 

“That wasn’t-” Rena took a stressed breath out, “He was starving families, burning parents in front of children and cutting their toes off to force the kids to eat them.” Her breath hitched at the implication of her being selfish for letting them fight, “When I’m around Evelyn I know she holds back, I’ve been trying to convince people to just knock others out, I don’t want anyone else to die.” 

“I am doing the same, I do not condone to this. We take people to protect them.” Joseph’s eyes darkened. “Have you forgotten that it was your people that drew their gun first? The resistance is doing the same as us. It has been reported that our people have been taken, being tortured and killed. The resistance is putting civilians, you, and your partner out on the field to be used to fight against us. Do you not think that can’t be compared to “letting your people die to be saved”? And you believe that your opinion is better?”

“Burke is not one of my people,” Rena said back fast, “He was an idiot the state sent in who didn’t research what he was doing. The sheriff wanted to wait, to do things peacefully but that jerk forced his hand.” She let out a stressed breath hearing his argument trying to keep herself level, “I believe that freedom of will is important and that this whole war is stupid.” She decided to say. “I-I just want to keep being a good person, doing the right thing.”Joseph nodded and stood from his chair, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing it lightly. 

“We are almost done.” Joseph passed her the bottle of water and turned to John. “I see, Pride, Greed and Lust.”

“I agree,” John said looking her over, “Where do you want them?”Joseph turned to look at Rena, his eyes flickering across her. 

“Here. For Pride.” Joseph tapped right below her left collarbone. “Greed.” He did the same to the opposite side. “And Lust here.” Joseph lowered his hand to her lower abdomen, near her hip causing her to grow flustered feeling how he squeezed her. John nodded before walking over to Lorena’s tattoo gun in hand.

“Do you Lorena Carter agree and want to atone for your past transgressions, and promise to do your best to be pure?”

Rena took another sip of water looking it over before hesitantly saying, “Yes.” 

“Good,” John said giving her a smile pulling a chair over, “We’ve got three to do so let’s not waste any time hmm? Stay still for me now.” He warned moving to her collar bone etching the words onto her. Rena felt herself twitch at first as the strange buzzing sensation hit her skin. 

“Ah,” She said feeling a slight panic wash over her, she did her best to focus on her breathing as John quickly worked. Joseph smirked, taking her hand, clearly delighted in the idea of marking her.

“Tell me if it gets too much and if you need a break, Lamb.” Rena nodded giving it a good squeeze trying to focus on not jerking away. When he finished the first two, he wiped and bandaged them to protect them from infection, before looking down at Lorena’s dress.

“You’ll need to raise your dress to your hip on one side.” Rena blinked at that, letting out a frustrated sigh before doing so feeling the familiar pinning feeling hit her hip bone, she stayed still, and John seemed to finish this one faster than the others, quickly bandaging her and letting her dress drop back down. “That wasn’t hard was it?” He asked her giving her another smile. 

“Yeah,” Rena said sighing trying to look down at the new tattoo’s feeling overwhelmed at the idea she’d have new spots on her body that she’d want to cover. He lifted her up off the seat, helping her stand. 

“You did wonderfully.” Joseph glanced at his watch and tsked. “I thought I would have time to take you back home myself, but I have to stop by Whitetail to catch up with Jacob.” Turning to John, Joseph gave his brother a pinched smile. “Please make sure she gets back home safely.” Joseph leaned forward and kissed the top of Rena’s head. “I’ll meet you back there in a few hours. There is leftover meatloaf in the fridge.” 

"She'll be fine," John told him encouraging. Rena nodded giving Joseph's hands one last squeeze before letting go of them. Joseph grabbed his suit jacket and rushed out the door without looking back.

"I'll have my men deliver your shoes to her today," John told her causing Rena to cheer up a bit, " Now wait here I'll go get your guards for the trip back to your home."

***

Evelyn whispered into her walkie, belly to the ground and peering through the scope of her rifle. “Eyes on the SUV. I see her in the back. Peggie on her left and right. Two in the front. Coming close to the mark, Tell me when.” 

Nick only waited a few seconds before calling out, "Now!" When Nick gave her the go-ahead, she pressed down on the trigger, watching the events unfold nicely and just as planned. As soon as the vehicle pulled over and the driver went out to check the tire, he soon fell limply to the ground. Sharky and Jess slowly inched their way close to the vehicle gun and now at hand ready to take out the guards that stepped out. After some time, the guards inside began to feel on edge when their friend hadn’t come back yet. 

One of them turned to Rena and roughly barked, “Stay put, Sweetheart.” before heading out, leaving her with only one guard. Rena only nodded to him, trying not to show that she was feeling hopeful as the guard’s numbers showed obvious signs of decreasing. One by one they dropped, easily and quietly. The one in the car followed after with a bullet to the head. The door swung open and a young woman wearing a hoodie stood on the outside. 

“Rena, we came to get you the hell out of here.” Rena immediately got up and hugged her unable to stop herself. 

"Jess! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you." Jess jumped in surprise at the sudden contact, slightly ruffled. 

“Yeah, yeah. Thank me later, we gotta go.” 

Evelyn lifted her walkie to her lips, “Alright Sharky, All on you. Get her out of there before the other peggies start coming.” Evelyn propped her gun back into position, and scanned the roads, watching for vehicles to turn back around.

"Um hello," Sharky said nerves building wanting to make this impression good for Eve's sake, "My name is Sharky I'm Evelyn's friend and co-worker it's a pleasure to meet you, Lorena, I heard you like tunes." He offered his hand for her to shake not wanting to just grab her and run. Rena blinked and was about to shake his hand when Jess moved her along.

Jess helped Rena out of the car, “I’m staying here to keep these assholes off of you, I’ll meet you back at Nicks.” Turning to the man in the hat, she growled. “Hurry up Sharky. Introductions later.”

"I'm just trying to be a gentleman," Sharky said pouting before grabbing Rena and hoisting her over his shoulder so he could use his guns if need be. "Hold on, this is about to get real bumpy!"

"Please be careful!" Rena called to Jess as they raced to a getaway car. Jess waved her off before turning back to two cars that pulled up right after they left. Jess drew back her bow and fired at the man rushing at her, quickly checking behind her to see how far Sharky and Rena had gotten. Sharky quickly tossed her into the shotgun seat and then raced to the other side to start driving them back to Nick's. Rena buckled herself in before looking back watching as the cars that started to drive towards her we’re attacked by Nick's plane from the sky. 

"You said your a friend of Lyn's is she okay?" Rena asked looking around in the chaos for her.

"Sure is she organized this for you!" Shark told her driving them away as fast as he could. Rena's eyes lit up at that feeling happy her friend had been brave enough to come back for her.


	12. One Normal Night

Evelyn burst through the door, followed by Jess and Nick. She tossed her gun to the side and rushed to Rena. “I’m sorry I didn’t come for you sooner. They took me to Whitetail and I was stuck with Jacob-” 

“No I’m sorry,” Rena told her tackling her with a hug clutching on tight again, “Its okay, I don’t blame you. I’m just so glad you’re okay.” Rena told her. “Thank you for getting me it was so scary.”Jess fell onto the couch gracelessly, and let out an “oomph” noise, throwing her arms over the back of the seat. 

“We are just glad you’re alright. Once we recuperate we are going back out there and kicking their asses.” 

“Welcome back pipsqueak,” Nick told her smiling going down to check on Kim.

“Yeah, maybe,” Rena said smiling, “Thank you, everyone, you guys came at the right time.” 

“Well yeah, but, Rena you’ll have to lay low. I’m thinking you stay at either Dutches or Eli’s bunker. It’ll be the safest measure.” Evelyn crossed her arms over her chest, “For maybe two weeks…a month or so.” her voice lowering towards the end.

“I don’t know,” Rena said unsure how she should bring up the new news, “I might need to keep moving around, once my leg heals I mean.” 

“Yeah I heard you got shot, that’s fucking metal,” Sharky said nodding.

“Two weeks seem like a bit much don’t you think?” Jess questioned Evelyn.

“That’s all I have left to heal and be on my feet,” Rena told her sighing. “But um, well we have a bigger problem,” Rena said looking at Evelyn, “.Joseph thinks that I’m the mother.” 

“The who now?” Sharky asked blinking. 

“His… um wife,” Rena told them, “I don’t-” She hesitated not sure how much detail to give them, “-it’s not going to be safe for me to stay any place too long.” 

“What……” Sharky said drawing it out to be comedic. The rest of the room stayed still, not knowing what to say until Evelyn broke the long silence. 

"What the hell is wrong with these people." She ran a hand through her hair clearly stressed.

"Seriously…that's really fucked up. I really don't know what else to say to that, Rena." Jess let out a long exhale.

"It's fine, I'm okay," Lorena tried to tell them running a hand through her own hair, "It's just been like a creepy vacation, with a psychopathic handsy nurse. Who also might have murdered my family." She added weakly at the end.

"Then we have to just keep moving you back and forth. I don't know, shit." Evelyn cursed under her breath and started pacing. "You think he'll try that hard to get you back?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. Joseph is completely batshit." Jess responded with a sarcastic snort.

"He will," Rena told her confidently trying to ignore her shaking hands, "he stopped Faith from visiting me just because we got closer. I can't imagine how he's going to react to this."

"We also have Joey, Pratt, and Burke to rescue," Evelyn stated. "We need to work something out."

Rena sighed nodding at that, "Joey's safe, Burke is with Faith brain dead probably, and Staci was...with Jacob?" Rena asked feeling like there were holes in her memory.

“Yeah,” Evelyn sighed remembering what terrible shape Staci had been in when she saw him during Jacobs fucked up monologue. “He doesn’t seem to be taking things well. That place is rough.”

Jess nodded. “Wouldn’t doubt that Jacobs fucked in the head. I can imagine all the shit your friend is being put through right now.” 

"We could bargain with me," Rena offered, "I won't get hurt, and I could escape again with help. I could try and talk to Faith or-"

“What? No. We just rescued you and what if you can’t escape because they decide to just keep you locked in a cage or something.” Evelyn squinted her eyes and stared at her with bewilderment. “Faith? She’s on their side.”

“Uhh yeah. That’s a pretty shitty plan Rena. Have you seen what Faith is capable of?” Jess threw in.

“I have but its because he’s threatening her,” Rena told them trying to explain, “I’ve seen it. She wouldn’t hurt me, I know that much. I could go there if things go really south at least?” 

"Whose going where now?" Nick asked coming up the stairs with Kim holding her hand to help her up. Kim placed a hand on her swollen stomach and patted Nick with her other hand. 

“I’ll be fine from here, Nick.” She looked over to Rena, “Good to see you again. Your friends have been spending a hell of a time trying to get you back the last few days.”

Rena smiled at them both, “Thank you, it’s good to see you again too. And we were talking about letting me see Faith to try and convince her to help me.” 

“So a bad idea?” Nick asked point-blank before walking off to grab something from the fridge.

Rena shrunk at that sighing, “Alright, I'll take the hint. No trying to ask Faith for help.” 

“She’s sort of good at making you trust her,” Sharky said shaking his head, “When they tried to get me to go to the cult, she did some mumbo jumbo with that Bliss shit. She’ll say anything to get you to do what she needs you to.” 

“Yeah, you can’t assume so soon that she isn’t trying to trick you or something.” Evelyn gave Rena an apologetic smile, “Who knows how long she’s been with Joseph. Her loyalty might be stronger with him, even if he’s threatening her. We can’t risk it.” Rena nodded, hoping at some point when she had recovered she’d be able to sneak off and see for herself, for now, she needed to just go with the flow. 

“Besides, you’re spending the night here cause I arranged a surprise at the Spread Eagle tonight with Mary,” Sharky told her before smiling at Evelyn, “Karaoke! I got her to bring out the old machine. We can all hang out, get shit faced celebrating and then belt out some tunes.” 

“Yeah, I’m out,” Jess stated bluntly, before rising from the couch.

Evelyn raised a brow, “When did you even have time to do that? I don’t know if karaoke is on people's mind right no-” 

“Honestly that sounds good,” Rena told him cutting Evelyn off with a guilty look, she knew it might not be everyone’s idea of fun but she needed this after being stuck with the cult for so long. “It’d be nice to have one last night of fun and normal before I get shoved into various different holes for the next two weeks.” 

“With all the running around you all have done, I think you deserve some sort of a break.” Kim pitched in. Evelyn let out a resigned sigh and went over to pick up her gun. 

“I mean if this is what everyone wants. I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” She was pretty tired between errands and having to deal with the Seeds.

“See!” Sharky said beaming, “I asked her this morning to dig it up, just in case we needed to celebrate! Come on, we’re all friends by now right Jess?” 

“Friends? When did that happen?” Jess uttered with satire. She folded her arms over her chest. “Besides. I don’t sing.”

“You don’t have to sing,” Rena said trying to get her to stay a bit longer, “Just get smashed with us? It’ll be my first time drinking.” Jess groaned, but she knew it would be pretty great to see how Rena would act when completely trashed. 

“Fine. But I’m not staying long.” She lied.

“Yay!” Rena cheered giving Sharky a high-five before hugging her again. “Let’s go!” Sharky smiled giving Evelyn a playful bump, clearly excited to be going out with a group of friends for the first time. 

***

Evelyn sat turned away from the bar, sipping at a beer and watching the entertaining scene of 'How many people does it take to fix a Karaoke machine.

"Did you try turning it on and off again?" She teased.

"Or hitting it?" Jess added. 

“Or both?” Sharky piped up watching as Mary fiddled with the plugs. 

“Just give me a second!” Mary told them snipping at their impatience. She tugged the cord before rhythmically hitting the top of the machine, watching as it lit up. Kim, along with other patrons in Spread Eagle cheered when the machine crackled to life. Rena was staring down at a glass with distaste, wondering how her mother could stomach drinking the same thing over and over again.

“Why does all booze taste like death?” 

“Maybe, it’s a warning for how your liver is going to be after.” Jess threw back her head and took one large swig of her drink. “Shit- Last time I drank it was with my granny.” Jess swept a hand over Peaches’ fur. Seeing how behaved she was around Rena, Mary was nice enough to let her hang in the bar for one night. 

“That’s a shot, you’re supposed to knock it back quick kid, not sip it like juice,” Mary said looking her over again, “Should I even be serving this to you how old are you?” 

“I’m 25,” Rena told her, “My mom is-was an alcoholic so I’ve just always avoided it.” 

Evelyn gave her a repentant glance, “Pretty good reason.” She nodded looking down at the bottle in her hand, her mind elsewhere. 

“Well, I figure if I just got all the sins washed of my soul, it’d be good to just get it murky again,” Rena said laughing nervously, “Wash the taste of Peggie out of me.” She told them before knocking it back. 

“Alright, who's going first?” Sharky asked leafing through the CDs that Mary had, “There’s also an aux cord if Rena has anything.”

“Hell I’ll do it,” Nick said laughing pulling out  [ Jolene ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixrje2rXLMA) singing it way off-key winking at Kim as he wailed, clearly trying to get everyone comfortable with it. 

“Want another?” Jess asked, already filling two glasses and handing her one. “To killi- beating the shit out of peggies.” She tapped her glass against Renas before swallowing down the piss colored liquid.

“Two beating them! ‘xcept the nice ones,” Rena cheered tapping her glass against hers thinking of Cass before watching as Jess poured another line of shots for her, doing her best to keep up knocking them back. “Okay...think I’m def feeling it now,” Rena told her hiccuping watching as her vision blurred.

“Make sure you drink water between your shots, Dep.” Kim laughed, “It’ll help with the hangovers.” Kim raised her glass of water for emphasis.

“Okay!” Rena said nodding to her, “After this round!”

“Who wants to go next?” Nick asked stepping down to kiss Kim’s cheek holding out the mic. 

Rena walked over and took the mic from him giggling, “Evelyn come up with me!! Let’s sing together.” She walked over trying to take her hand bringing her to the machine. 

“Uhh... no, I don’t-I haven't sung in a while,” Evelyn stammered, holding out her hands as a defense. Even though she had performed before in front of an audience, something made her feel hesitant about singing in front of the people she now called her friends. 

Rena simply took her hands giggling.

“I’ve never done this, it’ll be nice if I have somebody up there with me. Come on please.” She asked pouting. The puppy eyes did it for her and Evelyn sighed. 

“One. Song. That’s it.” Evelyn turned to Jess and asked if she could pour her a shot as well. She quickly gulped it down, letting out a pained cough and repulsed expression. “Let’s get it over with.”

“Yay!” Rena cheered pulling them over to the machine scrolling through the songs trying to pick one Evelyn might know. 

“What are we even singing?” Evelyn looked over at Rena play with the buttons, trying not to show that she was starting to sway slightly. 

“Hmm, September?” Rena said holding out the CD for her, “You like that one right?”

Evelyn let out a light laugh, “Yeah, that’s a good song. So how are we doing this?” 

Rena smiled plopping the disc in, “We can go back and forth! Sing the chorus together.” She decided to grab the other microphone turning it on and handing it to her.

“Wooo! GO EVE!” Sharky called out in support. “Go Rena!” 

“Do you mind starting?” Rena asked meekly feeling her nerves get to her at last, waiting for her approval before she pressed play on the machine. Taking the microphone from Rena’s hand, Evelyn swallowed, from anxiety and mostly to try to get rid of the horrible alcohol taste lingering on her tongue. 

“Yeah, sure.“ Evelyn shifted and squeezed the mic in her hand. Her eyes flickered to the karaoke machine screen, preparing for the words to appear. The words started to form, slightly unfocused, but enough for her to start to sing.  _ “Do you remember the 21st night of September? Love was changing the minds of pretenders while chasing the clouds away.” _

Evelyn could feel her ears starting to burn, but looking to the side of her and seeing her coworkers reassuring and carefree beaming face motivated her to loosen up and continue.

Sharky’s mouth was agape as his face fully flushed as he heard Evelyn’s voice, “Holy shit.” 

_ “Our hearts were ringing,”  _ Rena sang softly giving Evelyn a big smile happy to hear that her friend was such a good singer. She gradually got louder as she gained more confidence voice contrasting Evelyn’s, “ _ In the key that our souls were singing, As we danced in the night, Remember how the stars stole the night away.”  _ Evelyn raised a brow in surprise at Rena, giving her a lopsided smirk, even more, eager to sing along with her, throwing in an occasional little dorky, showy, groove. 

_ “Hey hey hey”  _ As they both sang the chorus Rena did her best to harmonize giggling in between lines. _ “Ba de ya, say do you remember, Ba de ya, dancing in September, Ba de ya, never was a cloudy day, Ba duda, ba duda, ba duda, badu, Ba duda, badu, ba duda, badu Ba duda, badu, ba duda.” _

“Hell yeah!” Nick called out whistling.

“Get it, girls!” Mary called from the bar feeling actually glad that she dragged the thing out for once.

Once the song ended, Evelyn spoke into the microphone, “Alright, that’s it for the performance. Please pay us twenty bucks a piece on your way out.” She deadpanned. Evelyn turned to her partner, giving her a curious half-smile. “You never told me you could sing.” 

Rena flushed a bit, whether it was from the booze or seeing Evelyn smile at her it was hard to tell, “You didn’t tell me you could either, for me it's just fun, you could be a professional.” Rena told her beaming.

Evelyn let out a meek laugh, “I don’t know about that, but I did do some lounge singing for quick cash when I was in school.” She explained, suddenly more talkative. “What about you?” Evelyn stepped off the stage, heading back to the bar. 

“Chorus kept me from going home after school,” Rena told her, “A lounge singer…” she smiled at the thought, “That’s really cool Lyn, you’re really cool.” She told her swaying slightly as they walked back to their seats.

Kim turned to Mary and joked, “You should make Karaoke night a weekly thing. You’d bring a lot more customers if it goes like this.” 

“Yeah why not, Daddy used to love it, “ Mary told her, “He brought it out whenever any Peggie’s tried to come in and convert.” She snorted.

Once Rena made her way closer, Jess gave her arm a playful slap. “Damn Rena, you fucking killed it up there.” Rena let out a small giggle as she rubbed her arm feeling a bit of a sting from it. 

“Thanks, its only cause you boozed me up though, definitely wouldn’t have enough courage to do it sober.”Jess simply shrugged, tilting her head back to another shot, notably unfazed still.

“Not a big karaoke fan- But, I’d come to watch you.” Jess pointed to an empty shot glass. “Another?” 

Rena blushed at that, “Thanks Jess, for coming too.” She held her glass out to her nodding, “Yeah, after this I gotta do water though, Kim said.” 

“Holy shit Eve you gotta warn someone,” Sharky told Evelyn as she came back down still pretty flushed from her singing, “That was really good, where have you been hiding that!” He gave her a smile, though he seemed a bit more sheepish around her. 

She chuckled, “Probably in my throat.” Evelyn sat down at the bar next to Shark, Jess, and Rena. “Are you going to sing? I think I saw a CD labeled ‘20 Greatest Disco Hits’ up there.” 

Sharky laughed at her before nodding, “Yeah, yeah gonna do it while I’m still drunk, though you girls are a tough act to follow,” Sharky told her giving her a wink and a goofy grin before leafing through the songbook. Evelyn gave him a smile and turned to see Jess pouring Rena another shot.

“I’ll take another too, can’t have Rena outdoing me in everything.” she teased. 

Rena flushed at that before letting out another giggle, “I doubt I can do that.” She hummed taking the shot and leaning on the bar, “This is so nice. I missed everyone, I missed being able to talk to people normally.” 

Jess began to pour Evelyn’s drink, “We aren’t going to let those assholes get their hands on you again.” She passed Evelyn her glass, who promptly downed it and nodded along to Jess. “I’ll kill every last one of those fucks if I have to.” 

Evelyn leaned her head casually into her hand and stared at Lorena, speaking slowly. “We are going to save our friends, arrest Joseph, and go home and back to this.  _ Normal. _ I promise.” 

Rena gave them both a soft smile, "I hope so. Thank you it means a lot, it's just nice to have people who got your back.' 

In the background Sharky had begun his song shouting, “I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE AND I BRING YOU….  _ fire…”  _

Rena laughed, “Oh I’ve never heard this one.” She said watching Sharky as he began to belt out  [ Fire ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaHEusBG20c) by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

“Oh boy-” Evelyn pivoted in her seat and snorted, eyes glued to the stage watching the glorious disaster that was Sharky Bowshaw. “I’m right there with you.” Allowing herself to look away for a moment, she let out a content sigh. The people around her were laughing and joking, not worried at all about what tomorrow will hold. Rena watched Evelyn unwind for a moment a faint smile on her lips. It was nice finally seeing her partner relax a bit, hearing her sound so confident gave her hope. She turned her attention back to Sharky and clapped along with the beat of the song.

***

A few songs and drinks later, the bar started emptying. Nick and Kim had said their goodbyes, Nick saying “I heard that pregnant women need at least 12 hours of sleep and I want the best for my wife and son.” Kim immediately corrected “Daughter” and “No, 12 hours is ridiculous.” While Mary stood behind the counter, cleaning it with a rag.

Evelyn sat at one of the tables with Rena, Sharky, and Jess. “...and then he let out the girliest scream I’ve ever heard from a man.” Evelyn let out a developing chuckle as she explained to Rena and Jess her and Sharky’s adventure at the haunted O’Hara house. Evelyn wiped a tear from her eye, flushed red from laughing so hard and from the liquor taking over her.

"It was not!" Sharky whined, "You guys should have been there she was acting like it was no big deal. Of it was an actual horror movie they would have attacked her first." He didn't say kill because it was obvious that Evelyn would be the survivor in any horror movie.

“Noo,” Evelyn waved a hand in the air. “The only thing that was scary was in the end, there was a huge bug that got me. It had so many legs.” She shivered, recalling the traumatic experience. 

Lorena giggled, "I wish you guys could have seen Joseph's face when Peaches came to me. He comes home in a panic and she's just sitting practically in my lap."

“There’s no way he just allowed you to keep a giant cougar with you,” Evelyn responded in between sips of her beverage. 

“I would have sicked her on him. Tear that bastard to shreds.” Jess added.

“If I did the entire camp would turn on me and my busted foot,” Rena told Jess, “And he did! I told him he could try and take her from me, I’d love to see it.” She giggled again, “I swear, it is-so weird, there was so much I got away with. If you see John again you should try and do something.” 

Evelyn laughed, “Funny thing having the upper hand over a crazy cult leader.” Evelyn raised a brow, “What do you mean by that?” 

“He’s got this huuuuuuge thing for you,” Rena tried to explain, “Before you had his day with you he came over asking all these questions. I had to be really vague and all ‘just be nice, give her food, don’t be a dick’” 

“Nah, I’d second that,” Sharky said nodding looking a bit amused, “That smirking fuck face has had it out for you since shit went sideways right?” 

“See! He knows what I’m talking about,” Rena told her loudly gesturing to him, “I like him! You’re fun!” She told him smiling. Sharky beamed at her before giving her a high-five.

“New friend!” He practically cheered. Evelyn groaned, shaking her head. 

“Nope. Don’t see what I could have done that would make him interested. Even if he is, I’m not attracted to psychopaths.” 

“Call him! Prove me wrong!” Rena slurred, “He can’t find us through the radio. He’s probs mad cause I escaped, and like you’ll cheer him up anyways.” 

“Maybe rub it in his face a little bit or see if you can get him to hand over that swanky plane of his.” Jess slid to the floor to give Peaches more affectionate pats of a good job well done on finding and protecting Rena. 

Evelyn let out a laugh, “That is a horrible idea and we don’t even know if he’ll even answer.” Evelyn unlatched her walkie from her hip and changed the frequency to what she remembered John contacting her on. Bringing the radio to her lips, she paused for a moment, trying to summon what the first words should be. “Ohh John?” She asked in a sing-song like voice. “Bold and brave? Are you there?” She waited for a few moments. Rena giggled a bit at her unable to stop herself, covering her mouth shortly after. The radio was met with silence.

Jess snorted, “Well that's a letdown.”

Evelyn shrugged placing the radio on the table, “Maybe he’s getting his beauty sle-”

“You’ve certainly been  _ busy  _ Evelyn,” John’s voice came through the walkie, practically dripping with venom yet slightly out of breath. It was almost like he was in a rush to catch her. “Making my job harder, where are both of you? You and I need to  _ talk. _ ” Rena smirked giggling again before mouthing, “ _ I told you so. _ ” to her friends. 

Evelyn brought a finger to her mouth and shushed them, "He'll hear you." She cleared her throat, preparing herself to sound serious and sober, then pressed the talk button. "She's far away and very hidden. Basically invisible." She was an even horrible liar when intoxicated. Evelyn released the button to throw her companions a devious chuckle.

“You just left her?” John asked, “I know you’re much too smart to do that darling, and judging by the slur in your voice, I can guess where you are.” He let out a light chuckle, “Should I come to pick you up? Give you both a ride home?”

"I know how to drive. But- I'm free now, Seed." Evelyn quickly responded back into the walkie, drawing the 'S' in Seed out for too long. "Get to talking."

“Hmm, so you are,” John said there was some rustling in the background, the sound of fabric moving and footsteps, “What to say, what to say, you make it so hard to concentrate deputy…” 

Rena sighed, “You gotta flirt more Evelynnnnn.” She whined once she could talk, “Tell him he’s gonna have to play  _ harder  _ than that to get you.” 

“Woah Rena, maybe cool it with the lines,” Sharky told her frowning, starting to sober.

“What I’m playing to my hidden sin,” Rena told him patting her hip before giving a wince as she hit her irritated skin. 

Evelyn nodded along, "Flirty? Yeah, yeah- that's pretty good." She pressed the button again, repeating her friend’s words in the best flirty tone she could muster up. "You're going to have to play harder than that to get to me, Johnny. I don't want to seem too easy." 

“W-what?” John stammered, his movements halting, “How hard?” He said fast voice flabbergasted. 

Evelyn paused for a moment looking for her friends for help before responding fast, "How hard can you get?" Evelyn questioned coyly. Jess stuck her finger down her throat and made a puking noise towards Evelyn making her laugh.

“W-What?” John stammered, “I’m coming to get you now.” He decided moving faster. 

“Tell him you want a good chase, if he catches you he’ll know what to do,” Rena told her giggling, clearly hammered to the point where her personality was changing rapidly. “Mention skin…”

Evelyn spoke again, word for word after Rena. "But- I want a good chase, and-and If you catch me. You know what your prize is. Maybe, I'll show you a little sk-" She jumped lightly in surprise, her hand no longer holding her radio. 

“Alright yeah no,” Sharky said taking the walkie from Evelyn keeping it out of reach moving back fast. 

"Oh thank fucking christ." Jess breathed, happy he did it before she stepped in. 

“Booo!” Rena whined before blowing a raspberry at him.

"Sharky, you're supposed to be the funnn one," Evelyn complained laying her head down on the table. 

“Yeah when your two’s fun is getting us killed, I’m gonna have to draw the line shorty,” Sharky told both of them before patting Lyn’s head. “We need to get moving to Dutch’s,” He said gesturing outside before lowering the volume on a stuttering John.

“Finnnne,” Rena drew out before giggling anyway. “Jess you should come too! Sleepover, sleepover!” She chanted giddily.

"Alright, alright. But, no shitty movies." Jess looked over at Sharky when saying so. 

Evelyn threw her hands up, jolting up from the table without grace. "Woo, let's roll."

*******

Rena woke in the morning with a splitting headache, clinging to Peaches who was licking her face to get her moving. “Shit,” Rena grumbled moving her hands to grab her head. 

Evelyn groaned beside her, already sitting up and trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "Yeah, never again." Sharky laid passed out, sprawled on a thin mattress. While Jess was already slipping into her boots and throwing on her hoodie.

“Drink some water hotshots and get over it,” Dutch grumbled tossing water bottles at all of them, “When I said you could keep Lorena here it did not mean that you could all just sleep on the floor of my bunker.” Evelyn caught it and gave him a tetchy look. Holding her tongue from morning moodiness. 

"Thanks. We are heading out anyway. Not sure where to yet." Evelyn turned to Rena, "Maybe Henbane?" Her pride didn't want to admit that she was still shaken up about what happened with Jacob and after last night and she didn't see herself going back to Holland anytime soon. 

“Yeah, maybe we could go to jail?” Rena offered thinking she might be the safest there anyway, “Stay there and Faith can’t draw us out.” She pointed outstretching slowly before opening her bottle and drinking from it. “I can walk but running isn’t an option yet.” She admitted looking down at her foot. 

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” Evelyn grabbed her shoes, gun, and backpack.

“Well, you two be careful, glad to have both of you back safe and sound,” Dutch said sighing, “And thanks for dragging niece out to see me.” He said chuckling before patting Jess’s head. “Head out whenever.” Jess let out a grunt in response. 

Rena turned to look at Sharky, “Should we wake him up now or wait a little longer?” 

Evelyn let out a small chuckle at the snoring man before nudging him, “Hey bud, It’s time to go. We only paid for one night.” 

“Five more minutes,” Sharky grumbled.


	13. Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!
> 
> Sorry for the delay I needed a month off for the holidays.

Rena sat on the roof staring at the sky headphones in as she watched the fields outside, a habit she had been keeping up since her time at the compound. Peaches wandered around in the courtyard behind the gate, glad to not be cooped up in a house or a bunker. Humming lightly to herself as she kicked her feet against the ledge turning to see Evelyn come up she smiled at her. 

“Hey,” she told her patting the space next to her inviting her over. Evelyn took her offer, squatting down onto the seat next to Lorena. She shifted to get comfortable, moving her arm so it was propped up on top of her knee, while her other leg dangled loosely off the side. 

“Needed some fresh air? Good night for it.”

“I’m just thinking,” Rena told her honestly, “I told them a lot when they did the tats. It was weirdly therapeutic, makes me wish I had invested in therapy or something before all this went down.” She was too busy running around, convincing herself she was fine since she had left them. She never had a moment to settle and really force herself to seriously consider it.

“Mm,” Evelyn nodded, thinking back to her time in therapy, wondering if she didn’t go if she would be a different person? Would she even be here at all? Evelyn turned to her, her eyes dropping to Rena’s half-obscured ink. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?” 

"No," Rena told her sighing, "only tried to rile me up." She took a breath in before nervously turning to her, “Back at the compound, with your stepdad?” She asked unsure what their relationship was, she was just assuming. There was a long moment of silence from Evelyn, Rena’s music could be faintly heard from her headphones, one ear was left unplugged.

“Yeah. Stepdad, not sure how the hell they managed to get him out of prison. It’s a bit alarming that the cult has that kind of power.” 

“It was intense,” Lorena said nodding, “He killed your sister?” She asked trying to recall everything, her panic had made it very hard not to focus. She remembered hearing bits and pieces as she was struggling to breathe. Evelyn nodded solemnly, her mind drifting elsewhere. 

“She was only eight years old, Rena. I was supposed to protect her.” Something heavy began to build in her throat and her voice cracked slightly. “It was going to be me and her, nobody else. We were the only ones we needed. I had everything planned out, I packed...I had a little bit of cash. I-” Evelyn's face scrunched struggling to continue.

"What happened?" Rena asked her gently placing a hand on her shoulder gently caressing it. She hoped it would just remind her that she was here.

“That bastard killed her, the night before we were supposed to leave. It was my fault, she was just excited we would have some freedom. Get out of that shithole of an apartment.” Evelyn started to pick at her boot. “Pretty sure he just never wanted us happy and she just so happened to jump right into his rage without reason. He would have told you it was an accident. But was it an accident when he didn’t try to save her? When he told me to help him ‘get rid of the mess’?” 

"Fucking hell," Rena whispered visibly wincing as she remembered how the man talked to her. The tone he used, how he was still trying to control her despite the circumstances. " What a manipulative asshole, that sounds horrible Lyn."

“Same night, I tried to kill him, I couldn’t. But, not a moment went by where I wish I could have gone back and just end his miserable fucking existence. Of course, he wasn’t going to let me get away with attempting to kill him, but the police showed up not long after. Think it was a neighbor that called them in for a disturbance. I don’t remember, everything happened really fast. I ended up showing the police where she was and now I can never get that image of them pulling out her lifeless, dirt-covered body out of my head.” Evelyn swallowed, trying to hold back the tears she hadn’t shed in years.

Rena shifted and grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze moving closer, tempted to hug her. Evelyn was so strong-willed she was unsure if more close contact would make her feel better or worse. "He sounds like he deserved what happened. You did the right thing."

Evelyn sniffed, “Things got a little rough, I tried to fix my life up after that. I went and finished high school, college for a bit. Moved far away from New York hoping to start new somewhere. Became a police officer, hoping I don’t know, save mothers and children that were in the same position?” Evelyn let out a sarcastic laugh. “Now look where I am.” 

Rena shook her head at Evelyn, "Saving everyone? And my ass about what is it 7 times now?"

Evelyn gave her a weary smile. "But, we can't save everyone, Rena." She clenched her jaw and turned to her changing the subject again "Why did you join the academy?"

"I became a cop cause the military didn't work out, which in all honesty considering how I handled this is probably a good thing." Rena joked. "I just really had to get out. Standing up to them never felt like an option, and running away always just felt better. But after a while, I thought I could do good, for somebody somewhere." 

Evelyn nodded, "I'm glad you were able to get away from there." Evelyn looked down at her legs. "They were the reason for your, " _ family thing _ "?" She asked cautiously, remembering their conversation at the bar before all this mess started.

Rena sighed looking down at them, "Yeah, Uncle sicked a dog on me," she kicked the left leg as if to show it off. "The lines are from bottles mom threw at me. My triggers are from them too." Rena went on to explain what she did to John and Joseph a week ago, sparing a few of the details here and there. Evelyn already treated her so gently, she didn’t need any more sympathy. Evelyn rotated to face her partner, listening intently. Her brow furrowing at certain details.

"I feel bad for not feeling anything about it," Rena told her honestly as she reached the end. "That they were killed. I just sort of feel empty. If anything I feel relieved, it was always there in the back of my mind, having no choice but to go back to them." Rena said sighing looking back at him

"Yeah, I get that. It's like Jess said. You think once it's over, it's over. But, the aftermath and the damage just stays with you." She shrugged and thought for a long moment. 

“That makes a lot of sense," Rena noted sighing running a hand through her hair, “Still sucks though.”

"If you need anything to go back to, I'll be here for you," Evelyn told her looking out into the scenery with her missing how quick Lorena looked back at her with a faint blush on her cheeks.

“Ah really?” She asked feeling a bit warm and tingly as she heard Evelyn say that. Evelyn looked down below at the bustling group lingering around the walls of the jail. 

"I mean you're kinda like family now and we need someone to look after our backs." 

“Yeah,” Rena said smiling giving her a hug, “Thanks,” she told her sniffing a bit.

“Hey! No crying allowed. We are supposed to be badasses.” Evelyn teased, trying to lighten the mood. She clumsily wrapped her arm back around her, returning the hug. 

“Sorry,” Lorena told her rubbing her eyes, “I-I just really appreciate you, Lyn.” Rena tried to explain, “After meeting you going through all of this, I’ve just met a lot of good people, and I’ve never had someone watch out for me before you. I know it’s silly, but I just kept thinking while I was there if I never go to see you and tell you that, so now it’s just nice. It’s so nice to have people who genuinely care enough to risk themselves like that.”

Evelyn stared down at her, fidgeting bashfully. “I appreciate you too. Honestly, you keep me motivated. I don’t know if I’d be able to get through half the things I’ve done without you. Still surprised I got fight left in me.” 

“I just can't wait to be able to actually help you fight soon.” Rena told her, “Payback all the favors I owe you.” She looked down at herself, “I just really want to stop by my apartment to get something to cover me for once.” She told her letting out a nervous laugh.

Evelyn chuckled, “Yeah, we can do that. I really need to get back to mine too, it feels like it’s been forever.”

"We could go tomorrow?" Rena suggested happily, "Finally see each other's places?" 

“Sure. I just wished I had time to clean up beforehand.” Evelyn jest. 

***

Rena's apartment was a small studio, and a wreck when they came in. It was clear someone had decided to ran-sack through her things. "I see the cult came by before we could." She said frowning looking at how much of her things were missing. Evelyn stepped over the mess and gave her an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, Rena.” She looked around, besides the mess the place looked really cute, despite also being a bit empty. 

"No big deal," Rena said trying to ignore the feeling of her private space being violated she pushed it back as she stepped through the mess trying to detach herself. "Cause I never really fully unpacked." She explained before moving to her closet and pulling out a box of her non-gym clothes. She pulled out a few pairs of pants grabbing a canvas bag that hung from the door before grabbing her shirts and the few undergarments she kept in there. "I wasn't umm joking when I said I got transferred a lot."

“Maybe after all this, you’ll be able to settle down here. No more transferring.” Evelyn said hopefully. She picked up one of her stray books that lay face down on the ground and opened it, making a small “hm” noise while scanning the first page, it was an encyclopedia on cults. A receipt stuck out of the middle of the book, showing she had bought it a few days after she had moved into town.

"Yeah hopefully!" Rena said smiling, "I really like it here, everything's pretty the people are nice. Very not Missouri. Evelyn closed the book and placed it on her side table. 

“Oh, I bet. I couldn’t stand being in the one John made me wear for more than a minute.”

“Give me a second to change?" Rena asked grabbing the last set of clothes. "I honestly can't wait to get out of this dress."

Evelyn sat on the bed, “No rush.” 

Rena raced To the bathroom changing fast coming out of the bathroom eyes closed arms spread open in celebration of being truly  [ comfortable ](https://pin.it/tsmemsrbkmz3b7) again, "So nice."

“Did you get everything you need?” Evelyn asked, “We might not be able to come back anytime soon.”

Rena looked around small frown on her face as she put her iPod in her pocket, "Most of the stuff I really wanted was sort of already gone."

“What’s missing?” Evelyn knitted her brows in displeasure. What the hell did they need to steal from someone who basically had nothing? “This damn cult.”

"Its honestly okay, " Rena told her convincing herself in the process. "Just rocks and like mugs and shit. I don't have a lot of sentimental stuff."

Evelyn got up from the bed, “Still doesn’t give them the right.” 

"It's probably more so a him thing, than a them thing." Rena walked to the door continuing to follow her process of ignoring the problem, "Come on your place next right?"

“Yeah, you look nice by the way,” Evelyn noted, following right after her.

"Thank you!" Rena told her smiling again cheeks flushed. "I missed pants."

***

“Didn’t know we lived so close to one another.” They had made it only a couple blocks before reaching the area she had lived in, which probably wasn’t much of a surprise, the town was rather small. Evelyn patted her pockets and pulled out her keys, “I really hope Cleo is alright. You’ll love her. She's really sweet.” 

"I can't wait, " Rena said skipping behind her, "And yeah, we should have hung out more before all this mess." Evelyn held the door open for her, revealing a small, humble and also rummaged through  [ the apartment ](https://www.planete-deco.fr/2017/01/16/esorit-boheme-au-dessus-des-toits/) . She sighed seeing another mess before them.

“I mean I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Evelyn nervously began to search through her rooms, making 'kissing noises'. "Cleo?" 

"Oh, no," Rena muttered looking around helping her search. Making sure she checked underneath the bed and behind the bookshelf, Evelyn finally spoke.

"Maybe she got scared and ran out the door when the cult came around?" Evelyn assumed. She didn't want to think of the possibility that they could have killed her. 

"Lyn, the litter box is gone too." Rena pointed out not seeing it or any food bowls, "They have her." Evelyn rushed over to her, noticing that her belongings had indeed been taken as well. 

“Why the hell would the cult want my cat?” 

"It's probably John," Rena told her sighing, "We could try and go get her?"

“I swear to-If it is John. He’s a dead man.” Although obviously rummaged through, her home didn't seem that bad in shape compared to Rena's. Which made Evelyn feel even worse for her partner’s situation. She exhaled, "I'm going to get some things together." 

"Okay," Rena said smiling, "Take your time." She looked around the room taking in the smaller details, liking Evelyn's decorations.

Quickly, she threw in her necessities into a backpack which consisted of, a toothbrush, some underwear, spare change of clothes, and some cans of beans she never thought she'd get around to eating. "Alright, I'm good." She said, walking back into the living room. “Wish I could bring my piano.” 

"Alright drop our stuff off then clear another compound?" Rena asked standing up stretching, "I've got a song that'll be perfect if we go to John's region."

Evelyn groaned, "I don't know if I'm ready to confront him yet after karaoke night." She opened the door and paused. "But, if that asshole kidnapped Cleo." She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“We can’t let him get away with that shit,” Rena told her frowning, “That’s your baby. I saw we take my cat and Jess and knock some sense into them. And the Karaoke thing was my fault anyway.” She told her flushing, “I apparently get flirty when I’m intoxicated.” 

"Let's just drop our stuff off first. Then we'll decide on the way." She held out her hand, gesturing for Rena to go out first, before going to lock the door. Evelyn let out an irritated "tsk" noise, wondering how the hell she only now realized that the lock had been busted.

"What's the song anyway?" Evelyn asked, trying to cool her head. 

“ [ Sorry not sorry ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mHPrkhE_Tg) ,” Rena told her smiling, “I’ll play it on the way back, also don’t judge me. I had a lot of time to fantasize about what I would do when I came back.” She said giggling before rushing to the car.

***

The base had gone over smoothly, they recovered the space and decided to stay there for the night. The two of them decided to take some time and rest. Though it seemed for both it would be a short sleep.

Evelyn jolted up, breathing heavily from another nightmare. She ran a shaky hand through her hair and pulled out her cellphone, which had long lost service, to check the time. Evelyn sighed and threw the covers off of her. Leaving the room to get a glass of water, she stopped on her way passed the room Rena was crashing in, pushing open the slightly ajar door more so she could peek in and check on her friend. Her heart sank when she realized the bed had been empty. 

“Rena?” Evelyn poked her head into the bathroom, finding that too had been vacant. She grabbed her gun, starting to panic, rushing to the front door which had been left unlocked. “Shit. Shit. Shit.” Did Joseph find them? How would he be able to take when she had been in the next room over. Why wouldn’t he kill or taken her as well? Maybe she just went out for a walk. 

Evelyn walked out the door, shutting it behind her and started walking around the area, farther and farther away from their hideout. “Rena!? Where are you?” 

Someone in the distance spotted her, he lifted up his walkie to report to John, “Sir we found Steele.” 

“Good,” John’s voice sounded delighted, “Bliss her and bring her  _ home  _ Brother Trevor.” 

Evelyn turned back, remembering that she hadn’t seen the car parked out front. She headed back towards the cabin hurriedly where she had left her walkie. Why the hell didn’t she try radioing her first? Evelyn nearly slapped herself, hating how much of an idiot she became when overreacting. 

The soldiers drew closer, trying to be careful not to be seen. Trevor raised his gun and the other peggie’s followed suit. He let out a shot clipping her shoulder with a Bliss bullet.

“No. No. Not now!” As soon as the bullet rushed through her skin, Evelyn started running back to the cabin. Her vision already becoming blurred and her limbs weak. She stumbled over a branch, catching herself before stumbling over. One more bullet snagged her leg and she was down, the last thing she could see was John’s men grabbing her to bring her back to his Ranch once more.


	14. Retrograde

Rena, feeling more confident, had decided to slip out once Evelyn was knocked out. She had made a promise to Faith, and she wanted to deliver on it still. But she knew if she let her partner know where she was going, she’d just worry her. Of course, she didn’t know it would lead to Evelyn getting captured, but that was neither here nor there. She had tied her hair back into a braided bun, feeling more like herself again than she had in a while. To celebrate she rolled down the window to feel the night air rush at her as she drove towards where Faith’s base was.

She pulled up front stopping a bit aways from the building unsure if it was safe for her to just walk up and call out Faith’s name. Thinking it over Rena turned the car back on changing her iPod to a  [ new song, ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c0BjfIilgM) letting it blast before leaving the front of the car to sit in the back shovel in hand ready to bolt if need be. Between her silent footsteps, even with sneakers on, and the blasting music, Faith crept up beside her unnoticed at first. 

“Rena- What are you doing here?” Faith cast her a worried glance, before quickly crawling into the car to turn down the music slightly. 

“You’re wearing my shoes,” Rena said unable to stop her smile as she saw Faith hesitating to hug her, worried she wouldn’t like it. The distance between them after Joseph yelled at Faith had made Lorena incredibly cautious once more.

“Don’t you know Joseph is looking for you? He’s got groups out on the search for you.” Faith fidgeted nervously, looking around. 

Lorena sighed, “I figured, but I promised even if I got away I’d visit.” She gave her a nervous smile, “I’m sorry its a bit late, but I just started to walk again.” 

“Wait, we can’t talk here. Come.” Faith quickly grabbed her hand and pulled Rena back out of her truck bed and towards the front of the vehicle. “I’ll show you where just drive. It’s not far.” Rena took her hand and nodded, trusting her again, at this point able to tell she wasn’t pretending. There weren’t any fake smiles, and the anxiety was clear as day on Faith’s face. She got in the driver’s seat and took them where Faith wanted them to go. 

Once they reached the destination, Faith told Rena to pull over alongside the dirt road and follow her on foot the rest of the way there. She dragged her through the trees until they reached a small clearing, which opened up into a silent little flower field. Off in the distance, down another roadless path was a quaint cabin. The whole scene seemed like something out of a fairytale. Faith finally let go of her hand and faced her, a look of seriousness across her face that slowly developed into serenity. 

“I come here to think sometimes. It’s hidden and safe from everything.” 

Rena looked at the scenery smiling a little, “It’s really pretty, thanks for letting me come here.” She told her knowing the importance of safe spaces, thinking of her van. “I-I’m sorry I didn’t realize how bad he was until after, he finally told me why I was really there.” 

Faith smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “No don’t be. I should have told you about his plans. We kept things from you.”

“I got you in trouble,” Rena said shaking her head, “I wanted to do the exact opposite of that.” Faith wrapped her arms around Rena and squeezed, pulling away to give her a weary smile. 

“It was my fault. I knew what I was getting into. I just wanted...I thought-” Faith shook her head, dropping whatever she wanted to say. Rena clung to her tight looking at her curiously when she hesitated.

“You thought what?" 

“Nothing, I’m sorry about what happened with your family,” Faith told her changing the subject quickly, “I didn’t know He was going to do that.” 

At the mention of her family, Lorena sighed, "It's okay, not your fault at all. I don’t have any ties to them that ever really mattered. He's just getting really insane.“

Not wanting to talk ill of The Father, Faith spoke up hastily. “Joseph cares about you, Rena. He cares about me. He cares about everyone. He knows what God's plans are. He knows what has to happen. You-“ Faith hesitated, “-You need to finish walking the path and then we all can be together.” She took Rena’s hands and pulled her down into the grass to sit. 

Rena sat down with her easily, "Faith he kept us apart. You were scolding me for coming to find you because you’re afraid of him catching me." She paused not wanting to stress her out too much, "He's not here, can we just talk again?" Rena asked fingers intertwining with hers. Faith exhaled, and picked a flower from the ground, twirling it in her fingers. 

“I’m not scolding you. I’m glad you’re here, Rena.” She wanted to tell her she was scared of what he would do to her if he found out about this meeting, but part of her really wanted this. Faith placed the small flower in Rena’s hair. 

"Good," Rena said sighing softly, "I came here to spend time with you." She announced while her cheeks were slightly flushed.

“I missed you.” Faith told her while she twiddled her thumbs, “Other than Joseph. You’re the first person that understands me, that cares about me. Never really had that before.” Faith looked up at her through her lashes.

"You deserve more than just us," Rena told her sighing, "But I'm glad I make you feel comfy." She pulled out her iPod offering her a headphone so they could listen together.

“It’s nice. The shoes are too, they fit good. Thank you,” Faith said letting a small laugh slip between her lips and wiggling her feet to show them off. “Did you paint them yourself?” 

Rena laughed, "I'm just really glad to see you in shoes, and yeah!" She smiled, "I was stuck in the house so I asked for paints and did it whenever Joseph left." 

Faith put the earbud in, “You've got talent." Faith paused and thought for a second, "That... wouldn't have been good if he saw you making them." 

"We should just stop talking about him," Rena told her sighing. "No more hipster Jesus talk for the rest of the night." She gave her a small smile, "What music did you listen to before you came here?"

Faith let out a laugh at the nickname. "Yeah, I agree. Oh, I like Taylor Swift? I don't really have anything to listen to anything other than the project music." 

"Yo you didn't get to hear about her changes, she went dark for an album," Rena told her gleefully.

"Rena, Can you, do you want to spend the night with me?" Faith tilted her head to the cabin, an innocent smile spread across her face. "You can show me more songs!"

Rena blinked at that flushing immediately before saying, "Yes." Faith shot up quickly from the ground pulling Rena up with her and towards the cabin. 

"Yay!" She smiled, genuinely happy that she agreed.

"It's just been so long," Rena laughed nervously, "I want as much time as possible with you."

"Me too," Faith said slipping off her new pair of sneakers once they entered and lighting a few candles. "I can set up the fireplace, it's really cozy once everything is lit up." Faith reached into a closet and started throwing pillows and blankets out on the floor. 

"Sounds nice," Rena Said moving to help her.

"When I was a kid, I loved building blanket and pillow forts. This place is like my new getaway." Faith laid out the pillows into a giant pile before falling back onto it and patting the area beside her.

Rena flushed kicking her own shoes off before lying next to her immediately moving her arms around her unable to stop herself.

Faith let out a gratified hum, snuggling into her embrace, wrapping her own arms around her in return. She smiled and closed her eyes, not use being on the receiving end of positive affection. “Rena?” 

“Yeah?” Rena asked looking at her already feeling sleepy from the comfort of her embrace.

“Would it be weird to say I wish we could stay like this forever?” Faith opened her eyes to look at the flickering fire in front of them. “I’m tired of fighting. Surely you must be as well.” 

“It’s not,” Rena told her honestly, “I would honestly be okay with that. But, if I stop he’s gonna find me, he’s gonna keep hurting you.” 

Faith opened her mouth to object, but thought otherwise. “Yeah.” 

“But, I am really tired,” Rena told her honestly tucking her head into Faith’s chest, “After all of this, let’s just keep meeting up. Giving each other breaks every now and again.” 

Faith looked down at her and smile, brushing a hand through her hair. “Alright. This can be our meeting place.” She pulled a large quilt blanket over them and sighed. “I’m not sure of how to get a hold of one another secretly, besides letters.” 

"We can figure it out as we go," Rena told her smiling, "Meet up at the same place and time next week?"

"Yeah, sure." Faith replied happily, yawning and closing her eyes. Rena felt and smelled nice. 

***   
  


Evelyn moaned in discomfort, raising herself up only to be immediately being pulled back down, realizing that she couldn’t move and that her wrists were wrapped tightly to the wooden poles of a headboard. Her legs, however, were free, but before she could do anything the door to the room swung open and she frowned.

“Good morning Evelyn,” John said chipper as he brought a tray of food into his bedroom for her, glad to see she had finally awoken. “I hope you weren’t running yourself ragged, carrying all that  _ dead weight _ .” Evelyn's mouth fell open slightly and her eyes practically popped out at his words. Deadweight? Did they kill her? 

“What the hell did you do to her? Where is Rena?” Evelyn roughly pulled against her bonds. “If you killed her I’ll-” Evelyn’s voice cracked slightly.

"What no," John blinked at her frowning, "I don't have a death wish. Between you and Joseph I swear." He ran a hand through his hair mulling it over blinking as he realized what her panic truly meant. "So not only are you separated she's missing?" He asked, sounding a bit hysterical.

Evelyn was almost convinced with his confused expression, “Huh-? You're lying. I know you have her and my cat too.” She hissed, cowering back against the bed frame as much as she could when he took a step closer.

"I did because you've been neglecting her, like a certain other herald I know." John hummed before cooing to get the cat to come over. "She was starving by the time I fetched her."

Evelyn watched as Cleo walked between his legs, rubbing her face against him and purring softly. She practically pouted, calling the cat over to her with all possible haste. “I’m sorry, Cleo. I didn’t intend to be away from home for so long.” 

"As for Lorena, believe me, I've been trying to find her, but you've been making that difficult," John said sounding both stressed and amused, watching as Cleo jumped onto the bed to greet Evelyn. "I'm not allowed to catch her when I do, however. Joseph wants to do that." He sat the tray of food down on the bed before cutting a piece of waffle off to feed her. "Here darling."

“I’m not hungry.” Evelyn started, turning her head away slightly, but the smell made her stomach betray her, grumbling lightly. “You could have laced it with bliss. Besides, don’t you know how demeaning this is? Untie me and I promise I won’t aim for your face.” 

"You'd see a trace of green if that was true," John told her offering it again, "I can get the bliss if you'd really want to be freed."Evelyn’s face tightened and she leaned forward, cautiously taking a bite. 

“Is it true about Joseph wanting Rena to become ‘ _ The Mother _ ’?” She furrowed her brow, “Why her? Don’t you think that sounds a bit cra- off the wall?” Evelyn said hesitantly, not wanting to trigger him.

John sighed, "Supposedly he saw her with us after the collapse, along with her children." He told her offering her a sip of coffee. "She's made him fall for her hard though, she wasn't very hostile towards us when we kept her at the compound. She's smart." He noted remembering her baptism. She leaned forward to take a sip of the coffee and made a face, too much sugar. 

"Yeah. Sounds like her. I hope you know I won't let your brother lay another finger on her." 

"I don't think you should make promises you can't keep. As much as it would make my life easier, you’re not here to talk about where Lorena is," John told her. "No, you're here because of our little chat a few days ago." Evelyn choked on the coffee she was struggling to swallow, her ears already feeling hot. 

"Yeah. I was drunk. There's not much to say." She clenched her hands into sweaty fists and began to ramble. "I would have never said anything like that otherwise." 

"But you still did," John told her amused smirking, "Which means somewhere deep down you had some feelings for me, darling." Evelyn scoffed at his words, letting out a sarcastic dry laugh. Her cool head returning to her. 

"You are so full of yourself, John. No. Absolutely not." Evelyn watched her cat cuddle up against her side. 

"Still have your pride I see we'll fix that with time," John told her giving her another forkful of waffle. She exhaled swallowing her honor, thinking back to what Rena said about getting away with a lot. 

"But would me indulging into this, be enough for you to release Hudson?" Evelyn asked anxiously, "Or at least put her somewhere more comfortable?"

John sighed eyes narrowed, "Now it won't, has anyone ever told you that you are a horrible liar."

“Yes. All the time. I don’t see how. I feel like I do a damn good job.” Evelyn replied a bit hurt. 

John laughed a bit, “You look nervous it’s in your eyes.” He told her honestly.

Evelyn let out a long exhale, annoyance beginning to show. “John, did you honestly just kidnap so you can try to get me to  _ like _ you and feed me waffles? Eventually, my hands will turn blue from lack of blood flow and I will need to use the bathroom unless you want me to relieve myself on your bed-” `

“I’ll let you go after this,” He told her honestly, “Give you some time to walk around, I still need to get you to atone, might as well do it while your here. But, also  _ yes _ , I did want to earn some points with you dear.” John told her tucking a piece of hair out of the way staring into her eyes looking conflicted, “You should avoid Jacob’s region,” He told her mostly for himself, “He’s gunning for you after you left the last time.” 

“Oh trust me, I’m in no rush to be thrown back into a cage and starved.” Evelyn’s brow furrowed worriedly at the thought of what Staci was going through, she’d probably needed to do something fast to her dismay. "But, I can handle a few bullets and whatever else  _ your brother  _ wants to throw at me. Thanks for the concern.” She finished boldly.

"That's not what I'm worried about," John hesitated before saying, "If I were you I might start picking up Rena's habit of listening to music." He told her cryptically, knowing if he said too much else he’d get in trouble. Evelyn stared back at him, studying his face, not understanding what he meant by that. 

"Alright-" She lied, because when the hell was she going to be able to buy an iPod?

“Now eat up,” John instructed, “The faster we do this the faster we get you on your walk hmm?” Evelyn sighed, realizing she’d have to play by his rules for a bit, just until she could think of a way out of here and back to find out where the hell Rena went. She opened her mouth awaiting her next bite. John's smile widened across his face, blue eyes sparkling as he continued to forcefully spoil her, "Thank you," he told her humming happily.

***

Rena woke up, still entangled around Faith when she heard the Herald’s walkie go off.

“Joseph, we have Evelyn,” John’s voice spoke, “I’m bringing her in for her atonement but she lost Lorena. She believed we had her when she came to.” 

Rena bolted up feeling a wave of panic hit her, “Lyn?” Faith moaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes, her hair on one side stuck up wildly. 

She murmured, “Rena- don’t.”

“I have to get her,” Rena told Faith standing quickly scrambling to get her things feeling her panic take over her sense of survival. 

“You know how dangerous that is for you right now and it’s not like shes with Jacob. You know John won't hurt her.” Faith stuttered out, trying to make an excuse for her to stay. “They might have more men guarding, knowing you’d go after her.”

“I’ll take Peaches, and Jess,” Rena told her, “It’ll be fine, we can get in quick and take her back, no one will know.” 

Faith stood up, watching Rena get everything together. “Rena please...” She twiddled her thumbs mulling over being more assertive or trying to control her. She stopped seeing the sense of dread in Lorena’s eyes, her partner meant too much to her to leave her behind. “Just be careful.” she sighed knowing to choose her battles wisely. Rena blinked at her feeling her face flushing, not used to someone not trying to stop her when she felt like rushing into a chaotic situation. She gave her a small smile before she rushed over to hug and peck her lips, just in case anything happened. 

"I promise I will be. You be careful too?" She said more sheepishly backing up.

"I will." Faith smiled back, her face slightly pink from the unexpected kiss. "Promise me I'll see you here next week." Faith squeezed Rena’s hands. 

"Of course," Rena told her practically bouncing, "See you later flower child." Rena teased before racing Off.

***

Evelyn sat at the counter, chin in hand, watching as John made theatrical hand gestures as he described something that she had questioned him on, her mind not clearly focused on it anymore. The place was heavily armed with men on the outside, and on John’s hip. She would have to find her gun or a gun to at least stand a chance at escaping this place. When John mentioned the slightest word about atonement, Evelyn changed the subject. 

“So you enjoy planes?” she said, noticing the hangar and small little plane details on his coat, also the fact that he had stolen Carmina from Nick, but she wasn’t going to bring that up. 

"I do!" John said clearly ecstatic that Evelyn had suddenly taken an interest in him, "Would you like to see them?" 

Evelyn raised her eyebrows at his sudden excitement, watching how quickly his face genuinely lit up. "Uh- I guess." 

He took her hand and guided her into the hanger once more, "This is the best plane in all of Hope County." He told her overconfidently. Evelyn covered her smirk, letting a small laugh slip between her lips. He was like a big kid and it was kind of cut- She erased the thought out of her head immediately. Clearing her throat from her chuckle. "What do you think?" He asked her leaning against the plane smug like a teenager.

"Very sleek," Evelyn walked closer to it, catching her reflection in the shiny black metal. She looked tired and still was in the sweatpants and tank top she had fallen asleep in. "I don't really know much about planes though. I'm sorry."

"That's alright, maybe I can tell you on a ride." He told her leaning over her a bit, not wanting to pin her. He just wanted to get closer. She crossed her arms and raised a single brow at him, smirking. 

"Oh, is that so? You seem very confident. I would be willing to go." She stepped forth, closing the space between them and patted his chest. She moved to pass him and examined the artillery on the aircraft. 

John blinked growing red in the face as he watched her walk off he grabbed her wrist bringing her back to him cupping her face, "Why not now?" Suddenly swirled around, Evelyn let out a small gasp as she crashed back into John. 

“People will talk, John. Can’t have that.” She teased, moving to back up, her eyes catching on something moving behind him.

“They can talk as much as they want, I don’t give a  _ damn, _ ” He told her drifting closer.

She peered over his shoulder, easily recognizing her partner’s curly hair from anywhere and hastily put on her best bluff face. “Has anyone ever told you that you have very kissable lips?” 

“Many people, though none have said it as well as y-” 

***

A few minutes before John was knocked out with a shovel, Jess was filling her quiver with arrows. She looked over to the other deputy and gestured her head toward the ranch, which was in the view from the truck they were cruising in. “So what’s the plan?” 

Rena parked their getaway car far enough away that they couldn't be seen, "Get in as quietly as possible, get her out without tripping any alarms. They can't know we were here until after we leave. One person finds out we're going to be in a real shit show." Rena told her putting her iPod away and tightening her scrunchie. "Peaches will keep a circle around waiting if things go south. I'll need you at one of the cliffs to snipe the people at the top of the buildings, I'll handle the groundwork and get inside." Jess nodded throwing her hood back on and rolling her shoulders to get limber. 

"Sounds good to me." 

"Thanks for coming," Rena told her before they got out of the car, "I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to do this without you."

Jess gave her a lopsided smirk. "Hey, no. I've seen you kick ass plenty of times. You could wipe this place easily if you wanted." Jess opened her side of the car and followed after her. 

Rena blushed at that before smiling wide, "That's like the nicest compliment coming from you.” They tucked out of the vehicle, stopping to let Peaches out of the back of the truck to race ahead and mind the perimeter for them. "See you on the other side," Rena told her before rushing to the outskirts of the ranch. Jess crouched making her way up to a high point, drawing her bow. Making quick Dispose of the two guards on Renas left. She watched her, making sure she was cleared to knock out any of the peggies closer. She took out the men on the top balcony next, and any that stood near the alarm system. Rena pushed forward banging the first isolated person that she could see. Sniping the last of the men on the top of the watchtower, Jess slowly started to inch her way closer, enough to keep her eyes on Rena. 

"How we looking?" Jess asked into her walkie when her friend wasn't near any guys.

"Good, give me a sec," Rena quickly took the men out dragging them out of any clear areas, when she heard John's voice rambling on she knew they were in the hanger. 

“ _ They can talk as much as they want, I don’t give a damn, _ ” Rena slowly crept into view catching Evelyn's eyes before seeing John rambling on clueless she was there. Slowly she crept forward with her shovel in hand before knocking it down on his head. "Hey," Rena said giving her a small smile tilting her chin up, "It's about time I rescue you." She told her giggling.

"Jesus Rena. Thanks," Evelyn stood wide-eyed at her partner, impressed. "You're amazing." She smirked at her before looking down at the Seed. 

"Not as amazing as you," Rena told her looking around, "Snag his gun?"

"Sorry, Johnny. No hard feelings." Evelyn picked off his gun from his hip and looked back up at Rena. "What now?"

"Jess is waiting by the truck we just have to be qui-" Before she could say another word a guard walked around the corner pulling out his walkie before Rena could tackle him.

"THE MOTHER IS HERE!" The guard screamed before being knocked out. Rena felt herself start to panic her knuckles becoming white from how tight her grip on her shovel had become.

"Run!" She told her starting to race herself. Evelyn jumped over the body, following in pursuit after Rena. 

“Gross, he’s got them all calling you that.” They quickly got into the car as the alarms rang out driving quickly away from the ranch as soon as Jess hopped in Peaches running alongside them.

“Oh shit,” Jess started looking behind them and seeing the remaining peggies charging after them. She quickly hopped into the back closing the door when Peaches sat beside her. Evelyn jumped in the passenger side, strapping herself in. “They called for backup. I see helicopters.” When they got to the clearing between the ranch and FallsEnd there was a line of Peggie cars waiting for them blocking the way. Before Rena could whip the car in reverse she saw cars coming in behind them.

"Shit." She muttered trying to make a plan when she saw Joseph stepping out of a car with speakers attached to it. “Fuck, shit, cunt nuggets in a mother fucking basket tied with a fucking purple bow!” Rena shouted hoping they could hear her, “MOVE YOU GOD OBSESSED DICKS FOR BRAINS!” 

Joseph brought the mic to his lips, “My Love, we can do this the easy way or-”

Rena's eyes narrowed grip tight on the wheel, "Hold on." She warned them before backing up and kicking the car forward fast aiming straight for them.

Evelyn looked at her wildly, “Rena I don’t think this is a good-” She quickly gripped the handles on the roof of their vehicle. Joseph blinked, nodding to one of his men to start the music, immediately filling the air with the familiar [ song. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIk2WqK7ABM)

_ “ _ _ You're on your own, in a world, you've grown” _

He spoke again into the microphone his voice sharper clearly trying to command her. “Lorena, stop.” Before Rena could even think to shout profanities at him her foot dropped onto the break spinning them out of the way of getting hit. 

“ _ Few more years to go, Don't let the hurdle fall.”  _

Her vision was slowly getting distorted the colors fading from view as her grip loosened on the wheel unable to hear anything but the song or Joseph. Her eyelids sunk mouth remaining neutral as she stayed still.

“ _ So be the girl you loved, Be the girl you are.” _

“Rena, what the fuck are you doing? We are gonna get caught.” Jess yelled from the back seat.

“ _ I'll wait, So show me why you're strong.” _

Evelyn whipped her head to her friend, “Rena- What’s happening.” She looking into her eyes that stared blankly and emotionlessly toward Joseph. “Rena, speak to me goddammit.” Rena refused to even look at her, her head slightly moving as if swaying to the music. Her mouth parted slightly, it was as if she was drunk.

“ _ Ignore everybody else, We're alone now.” _

“Knock them out.” Was all Joseph said next. 

“ _ I'll wait, So show me why you're strong.” _

Evelyn raised her hands, slowly piecing things together. “Rena don’t-” 

“ _ Ignore everybody else, We're alone now.” _

Rena’s hand jetted out and slammed Evelyn’s head against the dashboard, slowly moving out of the car, shovel in hand as she approached Jess. “Please just stay still. I don’t want to hit you with an edge and open a wound.” her voice wasn’t light and airy like it usually was. It was as if it wasn’t her speaking.

“ _ Suddenly I'm hip. It’s the of some new dawn.” _

Her eyes grew large, watching Rena take Evelyn out like it was nothing. “S-shit. Rena, no.” Jess hurriedly reached for the knob throwing the door open and bolting for the woods. She whacked Jess before she could get any farther away, Peaches whimpering before turning to growl at the people who surrounded Rena. Rena stared at the ground blankly swaying a bit as she waited for further instruction.

_ “And your friends are gone when your friends won't come.” _

“Rena, call off your cougar and let us go home.” Joseph plainly stated before turning to one of his men and tilting his to the vehicle. “Grab her partner after, make sure she makes it to Jacob.”

“ _ So show me where you fit, So show me where you fit.” _

“Peaches, it is okay,” Rena told her holding her hand out, giving her a pat on the head before walking back towards him. Peaches’ ears and tail were down, but she followed after her owner nonetheless.

_ “I'll wait, so show me why you're strong. Ignore everybody else.” _

Joseph held out his hands and watched with a smile as she walked towards him. Rena took his hands, arms slightly shaking before. Joseph pressed his forehead against hers, pulling away to kiss above her brow. “You can never escape me, Lorena,” he whispered, loud enough for her to hear over the music. He dug into her front pocket and scrolled through, putting the same song on repeat, then putting one of the buds into her ear. 

_ “We're alone now _

_ We're alone now _

_ We're alone now” _

“Follow.” He placed his hand on her waist, urging her into the helicopter parked on the side of the road. “We have much to discuss when we get back, My Love.” Rena followed him staying close arms subconsciously wrapping around his side as they entered the helicopter, a small whimper escaping her mouth. 

_ “I'll wait.” _


	15. Aftermath

Rena woke up with a start, panic still there unable to remember what happened after she charged her truck towards Joseph’s face. Her breathing was manic as she looked around seeing herself in the room back at the Cabin. Back in  _ his  _ cabin. Unable to think clearly she started to cry hands gripping the sheets beneath her. 

“What..how-I” She looked around trying to piece things together. “F-Fuck” she muttered feeling herself enter a panic attack, breathing growing erratic. Joseph walked into the room, tight-lipped and furrowed brow at the scene before him. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

“Lorena.” He took a step closer, smoothing out the sheet before sitting down on it. “Why did you leave, Lamb?” He tilted his head, his face unreadable as he grabbed her hand, attempting to center her. It was clear he was trying to mimic how faith calmed her down after she reacted to the wolf at the baptism. Rena took a few shaky breaths in trying to remember the coping mechanisms she found on youtube.

“Y-You scared me.” She told him unable to lie staring at him, “You used bliss to make me want to fuck you, you brought  _ them _ here to see if I’d kill them, and y-you went around telling everyone I was the mother to your future children without even telling me.” She closed her eyes trying to center herself, “You marked my body even further, gave me new scars to be ashamed of, all the while smiling and being so  _ god damn _ nice to me. I felt like I was losing my mind. So when Lyn came to get me, I left because I felt like I was never going to see any of them again.” 

Joseph let out a “Hm” before he nodded as she opened up to him. “This is all for the betterment of the Project. For you. And if I need to scare you, to do this,” Joseph extended his hand to the new metal bars that covered their windows, “so that the plan unfolds accordingly. I will do what I must. We were meant to be, am I just to go against God's will? Against His great plan?” Joseph’s voice raised, “I gave you a home that you were welcomed in, unlike what  _ they _ gave you. I’ve given you a chance to survive the collapse. A chance to enter Eden's Gate.” Joseph held his trembling hands to her. “And you do not appreciate all that I have done for you?” Joseph asked with a cracking tone. 

“Of course I do!” Rena shouted back tears in her eyes, “That’s what scares me! It doesn’t change what you’ve done but it makes me want to forget. ”

“Then why don’t you !? Explain it to me so that I can understand you, Lorena.” Joseph countered, desperation thick in his voice.   
“I’d be dead if it wasn’t for you, or lost my foot, but it's what you do when I accept your kindness that terrifies me.” Rena said, shaking her head, “Every single time I start to feel comfortable again you, then you go too far.” She pulled at her hair, “I _ meant it _ every time when I told you no one ever treated me the way you do. God didn’t tell you the path to winning my heart was to bring them here and bliss me, cause that isn’t working so far!” 

“But before you left I promised you I would be patient for you, that I would be honest. What about that? We are running on a time limit, Lamb. The end is nearing and there's  _ nothing _ we can do to stop it. You and your friends will be caught in the middle of it if you all keep resisting.” Joseph hissed through bared teeth. “I have shown you my visions, you can see it, feel it. I saw it in your eyes when we showed you.”

“I-I do believe you,” Rena said looking up at him, “And I know, but that doesn’t change how you’ve treated me,” she sighed thinking about the tattoos that came after that conversation, “You still haven’t apologized, you never apologize. Joseph, you basically raped me, then put me in a room with the people who tortured me all my life. You made me feel safe again only to go around and make it so I’m not.” she told him weakly, “And you promised that you would be honest to me after telling me that I was going to be your wife, not asking me to. You…” she tried to think about how to phrase it, “You get so caught up in what you’ve seen that you forget how you're getting there. You do the same with your siblings, John’s afraid of you he shrinks whenever you're around.” 

Joseph frowned outwardly and shook his head at the mention of John, “No. I tell him to hold back on his violent methods. Do not bring him into this.” 

“And Faith, you yelled at her for something I instigated, something I started,” Rena pointed out softer, not knowing about his and Jacob’s relationship she left it alone. “But that’s not the point, I ran because I didn’t know how to trust you. It's not like that even matters anymore. I’m here, and clearly not leaving anytime soon.” 

Joseph clenched his jaw, “I have made my mistakes and I am trying my best, but I can only do so much.” Joseph gripped his knees tightly. “You broke my trust as well.” He breathed in deeply, “And because you broke my trust. The rules will be different now. Your freedom is now even more limited. We will eat together, Sleep together, the curfew is 9 pm, and bathe together. There will be guards on the outside at all times, there will be no more Peaches. No more walks outside. You will go to every sermon with me in the morning at 6 am sharp.” Joseph stared hard at her, “Understand?” Rena let out another shaky breath before reluctantly nodding, bringing her knees towards her face curling into a small ball trying to calm herself down. There was one thing she still needed to figure out.

“H-how did I get here?” Joseph stood from their bed, turning away from her and unbuttoning his shirt to change into something to sleep in. 

“A helicopter.” He replied monotonously. He dropped his pants and slipped into some sweats, deciding not to wear a shirt seeing that most of the time he usually didn’t anyway.

“W-what happened before that?” Rena asked him trying to be patient and not lash out any more than she already had, she knew she was on thin ice. “I can’t remember.” Joseph turned around to face her, aware of what she wanted to know and just cutting to the point.

“Classical conditioning. It is a project Jacob has been working with to help us further with our plans. It was used on you during the time you first encountered my brother.” Joseph looked at the iPod that was carefully placed beside her. “With the means of music, I was able to steer you here.” Joseph sauntered to the bed and moved the blankets over so that he could slide in beside her. Rena felt herself start to rock at this news, mind racing as she realized there was no way out for her,  _ ever. _

“You controlled me,” She told him feeling her sanity start to slip.

“Yes. I did. I’m sorry. I had no other option.” Joseph watched her, speaking carefully. “Would you have just come back to me if I had asked nicely? Hm?” Rena looked at him despite the rock of her body and the shivers that now ran across her skin, her eyes managed to convey everything she wanted to say but couldn’t any longer.

_ ‘How could I have gotten comfortable around you for even a second?’ _

_ ‘How can you claim to love me and do this?’ _

_ ‘This is it for me now. I’m just your toy.’ _

_ ‘You’ve won.’ _

“I guess we'll never know. It is what it is,” was all Rena could tell herself, trying to push it back like all the rest of her trauma in her life, body shaking for a moment before stopping, rocking halting. “I just-I don’t understand your love.” She said, at last, dropping her knees slowly. 

“Or is it that you don’t understand love at all?” Joseph challenged, tilting his head. “Considering how you have been treated. How you have treated the people you have met in the past and present.” He turned, a serious gazed glued on her as he brushed a lock of hair out of her face. Rena looked back at him trying to fight her instinct to lean into his touch in her mentally hurt state. She needed comfort, she hadn’t hurt like this since her first one nightstand.

"How I've treated people?" The deputy asked not understanding.

"Your selfishness. We will change that though, with time. A mother must not be heedless to the flock." Joseph reached over and opened up the drawer to the side table, pulling out a book. He opened the page marked with a sticky note. Rena snorted at that, mostly in an attempt to stop herself from laughing at the hypocrisy behind his words. A wave of new sharp anger gave her a small rush of adrenaline, bringing her back to the argument. 

“What we will not be doing Joseph Seed, is going there.” She shook her head a mad smile on her face before she ran a hand over it in frustration. Keeping her here, locking her away from everyone, stopping her from seeing Faith on such small whims, he was the last person she ever wanted to hear call her selfish. Joseph, however, stared at her, tight-lipped, eyes like daggers. 

"Everything I've done has been for you."

"Half of it has been for me. Another reason not to go there," Rena sighed looking back down at her legs, remembering the last time someone had said those words to her. "Maybe, we’ll have to see if your flock even wants me first.” 

"Of course they will," Joseph replied soon after. "Have they said something that would make you think otherwise?"

Rena hesitated before answering, "Not to my face." She quickly changed the subject, not wanting to get anyone in trouble, “Are you still trying to show me?" She asked him looking back over, "Even after what I just pulled?"

"Show you, love? Yes, why would I not? Everyone deserves to be loved." Joseph turned to her making that same intense eye contact he usually did whenever he was serious about something. ”We must learn to forgive one another, forgive yourself, and God will forgive you." Rena stared at him for a moment caught in the surprise of how genuine he seemed when he said that, trying to ignore the slight flush threatening towards her cheeks.

“You’re strange.” She chose to say, not meaning it in the complete offense. Joseph smiled at that, taking it as a weird compliment. 

"I've been told." Joseph gave his attention back down to his book, reading aloud, "Bless the name of those who have dealt you great blows. Be grateful for those who caused you great harm. For it is these sufferings that have led you to me." Rena sighed staring up at the ceiling, fighting the urge to grab her i-pod to listen to something to drown him out. This was it now for her, she couldn’t run anymore.

****

When Evelyn woke up, she was in an empty room with no windows, a single bed pushed against a wall and a chair that had been occupied by a mountainous man. The only exit was a metal door, with a small doored window. If she looked on the other side she could see that two men stood on both sides of the door, guarding and heavily armed. In the far upper corner of the area, was a camera, lit up red and aimed directly at her. It didn’t seem like he was messing around after her first escape. Evelyn hugged her knees, back into a far corner, her head screaming from the blurry events she began recalling. Rena attacked her after… Did Joseph play music? Again she lost her friend to that mad man and here she was uselessly trapped again. She closed her eyes and cursed under her breath. 

Jacob sighed, “Welcome back kitten.” He stood up walking closer to the bed, this time they were alone. She looked up at him, suddenly filled with wrath. 

“If you’re going to kill me just do it already. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to play with your  _ food _ .” She taunted. 

“I’m not gonna kill ya,” Jacob told her shaking his head, “After the last few stunts you pulled it’d be a waste.” He left out the fact it would be boring without her running about, she could find out about that later. “Between the baton and taking down John’s Ranch for the third time, I figured you’ve earned a small break.” 

“A break,” Evelyn swallowed harshly and stilled for a moment, with a million questions running through her head, she decided on “What the hell happened to Rena? The music...her obeying Joseph, how?”

“Conditioning,” Jacob told her simply leaning back in his chair, “When I separated her from you the first time, he wanted some insurance in case anything happened to his little…” he paused a bit of distaste before saying, “...lamb. It didn’t take long at all, her mind’s very easy to bend. Not like yours.” 

“Conditioning? Like mind manipulation? That’s-” Evelyn stuttered, thinking back to what John was hinting at, it all made sense now. 

“Yeah exactly In all honesty, if it was up to me she would be far away from all of us, somewhere else in Eden’s gate.” He shook his head, “He’s getting restless, making stupid mistakes.” 

“Am I-” She started, a feeling of deep dread overcoming her, her voice started to quiver. “-am I… conditioned?” Was it the same? Did she have to follow commands he instructed? Was that what the nightmares were from before? “Did I kill those people in the pile of dead bodies they found me in?” she questioned nervously, unsure what was real and what wasn’t anymore. Jacob watched her not used to seeing her so vulnerable like a cat watching a mouse scramble in a corner before it was caught and eaten.

“Yes.” He told her watching her reaction curiously. Evelyn ran a hand through her hair, inhaling deeply. 

“Why?” There was even more blood on her hands now, staining her fingers and she knew she could never wash it off. Could she even stop it, was this something she had to live with now? 

“You’re a strong fighter. It would be a shame to waste that when we can just reshape you. If it helps you could consider yourself as just a tool. We just released all the wrath inside of you pup.” Jacob told her scratching his beard.

‘ _ A tool _ ?’ 

She cringed at that. “And that's why I’m here. To cull the herd for you?” Evelyn repeated his phrase with disgust, no longer wishing to talk. She turned, facing her back to him, and stared at the wall. “You’re a damn monster. Get the fuck away from me.” 

"I never lied to you about it, or tried to say I’m anything else," Jacob grunted sighing, He stood up. "If that's what you want then I'll leave." He told her. " You let me know when you're done your tantrum and want to see me," Jacob told her before slamming and locking the door behind him.


	16. A New Normal

When the sun shyly began to peek over the horizon, Joseph tiredly rose from his side of the bed and hung off the edge. He peered over his shoulder, glancing at the woman still hidden beneath the covers. Joseph got up to prepare for the day as per usual, showering, getting dressed (well half-dressed), and setting the table for breakfast. When he was done he walked back up the stairs to their bedroom, shaking Rena lightly out of her slumber. 

"Lamb, It is time to get up." Rena slowly blinked eyes still blurry she rubbed them staring back up at him slowly remembering what happened the night before.

"I put together your outfit. When you are done getting ready. Come downstairs so we can eat breakfast together." With that being said Joseph then left the room. 

Rena got up slowly and  [ dressed ](https://pin.it/mzz5tazzdh2bup) quickly and quietly. This time hiding her old clothes under the mattress so she could return to her pants whenever she wanted to. She looked at herself in the mirror seeing her hair a mess she decided not to do anything about it before slumping down the stairs.

When Rena reached the dining room, Joseph already sat in front of his untouched plate of eggs, toast, and bacon. An open book of The Word of Joseph sat on the table in front of him, as he muttered words that she could assume be what he was preparing to say at the church later. His eyes flickered across the pages, unaware of her presence. Pausing before sitting at the table she watched him cautiously as if trying to determine his mood. 

"I thought we had to eat together," Rena said out loud before walking over to sit. "You haven't touched your food." She explained before picking at her own pushing things around to check for Bliss. Joseph glanced up at her for a moment reading her expression, clearly wary of her still.

“I was waiting for you,” he replied, picking up his fork to stab at the eggs, not yet bringing it to his mouth. On closer inspection, his cheeks were sunken in and his skin seemed pale. 

“The entire time I was gone too?” Rena asked while eyeing him seeing her meal was clean. Joseph either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. Nonetheless, he shoveled some eggs into his mouth. "Thank you for breakfast." She said trying to slip back into the complacent Rena that she was for him before. It was a lot harder this time around.

Joseph hummed in acknowledgment, “We have a busy schedule today. When the sermon ends, we will be heading to the lake. You will be helping me baptize some of the new recruits. After that, we will be stopping by the bunkers, checking to see how inventory and maintenance are being handled. Then later on tonight, we will be going to John’s, to have a dinner/meeting, with him, Jacob, and Faith.” Joseph checked the time on his phone, exhaling. 

“Helping baptize how?” Rena asked blinking knowing she wasn’t qualified to be doing any of that. Her face scrunched at the idea of having to hold anyone’s head below water. At the news of the dinner, she took a sip of coffee, trying not to show how happy she was to be getting the chance to see Faith. 

"You will be dipping them into the water. I think it will help you bond more with the people. It's easy, I promise." Joseph grabbed his unfinished plate and placed it in the refrigerator. "We do have to get going or we are going to be late."

Rena nodded finishing her food getting up to place the empty plate in the sink before chugging the rest of her coffee.

***

This sermon went by easier than the previous ones, words were said and songs were sung and in no time they were driving to the lake on the edge of Holland Valley. When they got out the car people were already there, waiting expectantly for The Father to arrive. Though, their happy faces immediately turned to displeased frowns when Rena peeked from behind him. The deputy shrunk a bit, almost giving them an apologetic look, wanting to explain how she wished she wasn’t there either.

Joseph greeting everyone before holding out his hand to her, "Come Lorena." Joseph stepped back closer to the edge of the water. Rena sighed before taking his hand and walking into the water with him. Her free hand pushed her dress down as it started to rise in the lake. 

“I don’t have to hold them under do I?” She whispered to Joseph feeling her anxiety over the situation spiking. 

“Only for a moment. I say about 5 to 10 seconds. Are you ok with that?” Joseph asked, leading her further out into the water. When they reached a good spot, he let go of her and gestured to one of the followers to join them. “If you want, I will do the first one.”

“Yeah,” Rena said nodding to him, not wanting to do anything without an example first.

Once the woman trudged through the water towards them, she  _ accidentally _ bumped shoulders with Rena, muttering so that only she could hear,  _ “Filthy sinner.” _ and faking a smile when Joseph placed his hands on her shoulder. “Thank you, Father, for this opportunity to be cleansed by your dutiful hands.” she sighed blissfully. Rena blinked at the comment only stepping a bit farther away from her in reaction, not wanting to show any hurt at the insult. Mostly because she didn’t care, but also because she didn’t want the stupid women to anger Joseph. Though it was clear to see the woman’s murmur did not go unnoticed.

“Of course, Sister Maria. Perhaps this will free you from your abhorrence, clean your chemically infested tongue.” Joseph smiled back at the woman who opened her mouth to respond, only to be lowered into the water gently. Joseph held his hand on her chest, the other behind her neck. Joseph's eyes darkened as moments passed, the body beneath him beginning to struggle and grip at his wrists. His face remained vacant, fixed on the water as if daydreaming. 

“Joseph she needs to breathe,” Rena told him frowning at the habit he was starting to form, stepping forward again in case he wouldn’t listen to her. Eventually, he snapped out of it and pulled up the lady who gasped wildly for air. Joseph patted her back, the friendly smile returning to his face. 

“You have done well, Sister Maria. Thank you.” Joseph pressed her back, pushing her forward and encouraging her to return to land. “See, easy.” 

Rena gave him a knowing frown before nodding anyway, “A-alright.” She told him before looking to see who was coming next, hoping it would be at least someone who was neutral towards her. 

A man with a beard similar to the others approached them, he remained quiet, staring intently at the woman in front of him who had been a little over half his size. The word gluttony was tattooed on his neck. Joseph patted the man's shoulder and looked to Rena. 

“You know what to do.” 

“Ah, right,” Rena said looking up at him, “I’m sorry would you mind-bending down for me?” She told him as she stared up at him. The man had to kneel, for her to be able to get a grip on his shoulder and if not for the seriousness on his face, the scene would be rather comedic. The follower grunted impatiently and Joseph smiled at Rena, encouraging her to continue. Rena awkwardly placed her hands on his shoulder and his head guiding him below the water quickly. She counted along in her head, keeping her grip light so he could come back up if needed. When her count reached 12 seconds she guided him back up to the surface biting her lip before saying, “I’m sorry if it wasn’t what you were expecting.” 

He gave her an unpredicted smile, opening up his mouth to say thank you. The words came out as “hank-you”, realizing that the man didn’t have a tongue. He placed his hand on her shoulder and walked back to the shore. Rena blinked watching as he walked away, clearly not having expected to both do well and his condition. She looked down into the water wondering if it was good that she was doing this or not, not like she had much of a choice.

“You did well,” Joseph spoke up, his face beaming. “Now only 32 more to go.” He stated already waving over the next person. Rena looked over at him still clearly nervous before turning to the next person feeling the need to get this done quickly so she could attempt to clear her head before the next stop of their day.

***

Evelyn was unsure how long it had been since she first was thrown in here. There hadn’t been a single way to tell, except for the scheduled three meals she received by one of Jacob's soldiers, on occasion being a different man. They also came in every so often to take her bucket out of the room and return it empty and clean. They never spoke to her, even if she tried to converse, taunt, or even sometimes screamed. 

Evelyn had used a small screw she pulled off from the bed frame (her fingers raw after spending time trying to remove one of the rails from when she would slide under the bed to sleep.) to mark the walls with uneven tallies, trying to have a handle on one thing at least. She knew she was going to lose her mind in here if she didn’t do anything. Evelyn waved her hands towards the lit camera, wondering if he was even watching her. 

“Jacob! I’m sorry, I overreacted.” She stood there for a moment, frustrated, she knocked hard on the metal door, trying to grab the attention of the two men on the other side. “Can you please tell Jacob I need to talk to him?” Evelyn watched as the one peggie looked at the other skeptically, bringing his walkie to his lips. 

“Sorry to bother you Sir, Steele is calling for you, um... already.” The man resumed position after. Not looking back at the door. Evelyn looked around the room, pulling out the metal rail and hiding it under the covers, hopefully, it was going to be enough to knock him out (or kill him) quickly and quietly. She planned to take his keys, knife, and gun. Attempt to silently take out the guards, and make a run for it. She would come back later for Staci since she would have a way to unlock wherever Jacob might be keeping him. Not the smartest plan. But, desperation leads people to stupid decisions. She waited on the bed, eyes on the door. 

Jacob slowly opened the door giving her a small huff, “What did you have a bad dream?” He asked her teasing, not expecting her to have given up so soon. He stood a bit away from her arms crossed as the door shut and locked behind him head tilting, watching her curiously. Evelyn watched his movements, they didn't lock the door the first time… did they? He knows. He must know. She clenched her fists. Evelyn felt somewhat comfort from the object prodding her from underneath the sheets, but the anxiety was building quickly. It was too late to back out.

“What exactly are you sorry about Pup?” He asked before stalking towards her, reminding her slowly how much he towered over her in every meaning of the word. Her heart raced and she struggled to hide the fact that her breath began to kick up. Evelyn wasn't sure if it was from the adrenaline or the fear. Perhaps it had been both. 

_ Just do it. _

"This is torture. I can't handle it anymore." He needed to get closer. 

“Hmm,” Jacob said stepping even closer to her, only a few inches from being within swinging reach. “It’s only been 3 days this time Evelyn.” He told her standing right in front of her,  _ over _ her eyes not moving from hers.

"I'm weak, I couldn't kill him. I can't save my friends. I'm useless. Useless to you." She nearly cringed, spouting out such bullshit. Evelyn shifted her gaze to a red stain on his jeans, unable to keep eye contact with his intense stare. "So, maybe I should be the one culled." 

_ Do it. Now's the time. _

She reached slowly for the bed piece. 

Jacob huffed, “I expected more from yo-” She cut him off, letting out a low animalistic growl. Evelyn gripped the object tightly, bringing it forward aiming for his head. Jacob’s hand moved to grab it a wide smile on his face as he looked from her and it. “ ** _There_ ** it is,” He said using his other hand to hold her wrist as he ripped the weapon from her just to inspect it. “Good, you’re still able to keep on your toes Babygirl.” He said before looking back at her, “You had me worried for a second there that I overestimated you.” Evelyn snarled, recoiling from the new nickname. 

“Fuck. You.” She tugged hard, trying to free her hand, eventually attempting to kick her legs wildly at him, her hair falling chaotically out of her usual ponytail. 

“You must be getting antsy,” Jacob told her, “All this frustrated energy just being caged in here again,” He looked back at her, “You’re losing the frame, but you want to see if you can get a hit in on me for a bit?” He offered while handing the piece back to her rolling his shoulders. “Get it out of your system?” As soon as he let go of her, Evelyn snatched it out of his hands with sudden urgency, making her next swing at his side. 

“Don’t patronize me.” Jacob moved back quickly, watching as it just nearly grazed his side a smile on his face as he felt his adrenaline starting to pump. Evelyn was continuing to be a fascinating find, so much fight in such a small thing. When he dodged that too, she frustratedly jumped out of the bed and threw it to the side, raising her balled hands to her face. Her eyes lowered to his hip, quickly taking note of where his knife was. She hoped her training would be enough to hold herself up against him. She threw a fist at him, trying to catch him in the ribs with her knee after. The first blow missed but Jacob felt her knee before he could react, though it wasn’t enough to make him hunch over in pain. Quickly he stepped back to get some distance.

“You’re keeping up.” He told her still clearly amused with all of this, “Good.” he told her sounding almost proud. Part of her burned angrily at his praises, but the other part invigorated her, motivating her to push herself harder. Evelyn aimed a jab below his sternum next, remembering the academy teaching her about weak points, she struck fast, mostly due to the sudden rush of energy flowing in her blood. Jacob moved back keeping his arms low knowing the game she was trying to play, keeping himself close enough for her to attempt to hit him again, “What’s next Pup? How long do you want to keep this up?” 

She became frustrated that he wasn’t fighting back and growled, “Stop playing with me.” She wanted a chance to grab at the pricks knife, but he made that hard when his hands weren’t occupied. Evelyn threw her hands at him again, this time attempting to knee him in the groin, hopefully giving her time to grab at the knife. 

“Fine,” Jacob grunted using his hands to block her again, throwing her leg out of the way and towards the bed. “You want me to actually fight back is that it?” He asked her, keeping the same distance to her as before. Evelyn stumbled clumsily for a moment, but easily regained her balance and going back into her fighting position. She scowled at him, stepping to the side and maneuvering around him. 

“Do you even have it in you, old man?” she taunted.

“Old?” Jacob asked before he lunged forward-moving to sweep at her legs, curious if she’d be able to dodge him and counter fast enough, “So it’s better for you to think your getting beat by the elderly?” He asked her before chuckling. Her eyes flickered to the movement of his legs, although there wasn’t much room in the small space, she barely managed to avoid the strafe made at her. She followed up with a jab up with the palm of her hand towards his chin. Jacob took the hit stopping his movement for a second before turning back towards her. Evelyn ducked, rushing to grab at the red-handled blade sheathed in his holder. Jacob quickly pushed her arm out of the way before moving for her gut and giving it a good shove back. 

Evelyn grunted, staggering backward again, catching herself on the side of the bed, then quickly pushing her body back up. Now that he knew what she was going for she would have to switch up her game. Her hands gripped the sheets tightly. 

“Clever,” Jacob told her still using that approving tone, “What’s your next step Babygirl?” He asked her pressing forward, ready to strike again if she even remotely hesitated. Evelyn inhaled, trying not to get heated at his taunts. She swiveled around quickly throwing the thin cover over his head and around his neck, coming behind him and pulling tightly. Knowing she won’t have a hold on him for that long, she grabbed for the knife, this time successfully managing to pull it out of the holder. Evelyn jumped back and held the knife up to him defensively. Jacob blinked surprised at how fast she had moved and managed to get it away from her, noting the move in case she tried to use it later.

She glared, swinging the knife. Evelyn sidestepped around him, trying to find a good time to attack. With her free hand, she threw another punch towards him, going for another slash with the knife after. Jacob did his best to sidestep her before getting closer and knocking it out of her hand kicking it fast out of the way shoving her against the wall.

“You got me,” He told her no longer smirking, but still looking more than amused, “Now what? How are you going to try and get out now Evelyn?” He questioned her curiously tilting his head moving closer hovering his forehead over hers. Evelyn’s breath shuddered. She just had the upper hand and in mere seconds she lost it. Evelyn grunted, tucking her chin down and gripped the back of his neck, then pulling him forward into a harsh headbutt. Connecting his nose with the crown of her head. Jacob let out a groan letting go of her as they stepped back from each other, already having a migraine today this was the last thing he needed. Evelyn dazed for a moment, her vision blurring, but quickly went to hook her leg behind his and pushed him forcefully away from her, hoping he would trip. 

He stumbled back landing with a thud. Once he landed on the ground, Evelyn threw herself on top of him, half her body pressing down on the upper half of his body, trying her best to fight against his strength. With her free hand, she frantically began to search for his gun, keys, or anything to get her the hell out of her cell. When she couldn’t find anything she began to panic. 

After a while, Jacob chuckled, "You should at least buy me a drink first Evelyn." He teased sitting up wrapping his arms around her to keep her somewhat still in his lap. "That was good," He told her smirking, "It's been a while since anyone could keep up with me Pup." He whistled and another guard came in. Evelyn let out a moan of despair, she needed to get the hell out of here. She squirmed violently in his grasp, going limp when he didn't loosen his grip. 

She leaned her head forward and growled, "I'll kill you." If that was meant to make Jacob frightened, it seemed to only have the opposite effect on him, softening his smirk to a smile. 

“I’d like to see that,” he told her before looking over at his men, “Get the bed frame and the knife." He told them looking it over, "She's lost the privilege." Evelyn watched worriedly as they threw the mattress off and carried out the frame, along with Jacob’s knife and the metal piece she had tossed to the side. 

"You can't leave me in here." Once they left, Jacob let go off her. 

“I can, but since you did so well, I promise to visit you tomorrow.” He said leaning on his elbows waiting for her to get off of him. “We can talk or you can try and hit me again.” She scurried away from him and huddled to the mattress. 

Evelyn frowned, "I want to see Rena and Staci." 

Jacob nodded, “We’ll see if I can work something out. But that depends on you.” He paused “I may be seeing her tonight, do you want to send a message.” He offered curious if she’d take it in desperation. Evelyn scanned his face, looking for a hint of deceptiveness. She stared at him confused when she saw none. 

“That’s very kind of you, am I allowed to write her a note?” 

“Sure, just know me and Joseph will probably scan it over,” Jacob told her slowly getting up off the ground. “I’ll have a guard bring it in, if you play nice with the pen Pup I’ll make sure it gets to her.” He said knowing she could use it as a weapon if she really wanted to. He looked down at the tear in his shirt touching the cut inspecting it for dirt. Evelyn thought about it, nodding. 

"Alright. But can I take a rain check on that offer or is this like a one-time thing?"

“Rain checks are allowed,” Jacob said moving to the door knocking watching as the door unlocked again, “Have a good night Babygirl.” He told her before disappearing behind the bolted door.

***

The rest of the activities went by slowly, the bunker visit being the longest and most excruciatingly boring. But now, as the night rolled on by, Joseph sat in the car with Rena, pulled upfront in the driveway to John’s ranch He tilted his head in her direction. 

“How are you feeling, Lamb?”  [ Rena ](https://pin.it/wpryvndutaxbah) was quiet for a moment before answering. The same feeling she had before she had left the first time was slowly creeping on her. The Erie and somehow threatening feeling of normalcy that came from seeing the smiling and happy faces that addressed Joseph throughout the day. She could feel it affecting her again, and it was somewhat frustrating.

She finally looked back up at him and answered, “Tired, but otherwise fine.” Joseph exited out the car first, making his way around to her side and opening the door up for her, a gentleman as usual. Then locking his arm around hers and heading to the entrance. 

Before knocking Joseph leaned into her, “I forgot to tell you how absolutely breathtaking you looked today.” Joseph paused, deep in thought before speaking up again. “I’m sorry I have been quite out of it lately.” 

“Ah..thank you,” Rena flushed at the compliment, and the contact from being close to him, internally cursing herself for it. Hesitating to speak again, “All things considered, I’d say it's expected.” She told him honestly, “It would be even stranger if it was any other way.” 

Joseph raised his eyebrow at her curiously before turning to knock on the door. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Ah,” John said as he answered the door, “Welcome back Rena. Come in both of you.” He told them, a bruise peeking from the upper right corner of his head from where she had knocked him with the shovel. “Jacob’s running a bit late, but Faith’s already here.” Joseph’s eyes fell on the purplish-blue mark instantaneously, his brow furrowing. He gripped his brother's shoulders greeting him with the same intimate forehead touch. He opened his mouth to question the wound, but before he had a chance, Lorena spoke up from beside him. 

“I-I’m sorry about the bruise,” Rena told him looking at it, choosing not to apologize for hitting him with the shovel. He gave her a dark look before sighing and shaking his head realizing Joseph was near.

“It wasn’t an open wound at least,” He told her frowning, “you could have done worse.” He told her not necessarily forgiving her either. Joseph looked at Rena, slightly jarred. 

“It is a bit chilly out, so let us continue talking inside,” Joseph said, placing his hand on her back and escorting her inside. Rena followed him wordlessly, giving John a thankful look for not getting too angry at her immediately. Once they entered, footsteps came scuttling down the stairs. followed by the feminine voice of Faith. 

“Is that the Fath-” She paused, her gaze landing on Rena. “Oh, I wasn’t aware that... Lorena would be joining us.” Faith’s stare fell to the floor, as she walked down the last few remaining steps. Rena sighed, feeling guilty for dragging herself and Faith back into this predicament. She remained quiet keeping her gaze down as well not wanting Faith to get scolded or yelled at for anything small. 

“I thought it would be nice to have her join as a welcoming into the family.” Joseph calmly replied, slipping off his suit jacket and throwing it over the coat rack. He rolled up his sleeves and turned to John. “Do you need any help setting up anything?”

“The food is here,” John explained, “All we need is to set the table, and bring out something to drink. And an extra chair.” He added walking towards the dining room. 

“Sounds good, I will help.” Joseph turned to the two women and gave them an obscured observation. “Try to not get into any trouble.” he joked, but face said otherwise. Joseph turned to follow John into the kitchen, leaving Faith and Rena alone in the living room. As soon as they walked away Rena looked up at Faith’s guilty expression on her face.

“I was in the car, driving towards him when they played the conditioning song.” She explained weakly feeling like she failed her. “I’m sorry, I promised I’d be able to make it back.” She whispered. Faith went to hug her, the hug itself only lasting for a quick and short moment. She gave her a strained smile. 

“Shh, it’s fine. What’s done is done, no need to dwell on it. I’m just glad you’re ok-” Faith gave her a look over. “-and you got out of it without a scratch on you. So that’s something.”

Rena nodded, "Yeah I was careful. I just missed one guard and the rest of it just went to shit." Rena admitted sighing feeling another wave of depression hit her dimming her eyes for a second before she pushed it down remembering the fact that there more than likely wasn't going to be a next time. "I'm fine though, got most of my frustration out as soon as I came to. Even if none of it was actually heard and recognized." She told her looking over at the other room, "It just felt nice just to get it off my chest." Faith looked at her sympathetically and gripped Rena's hands. 

"You know you can talk to me...well if we ever get to chat like this one on one again." 

“I do,” Rena looked up at her and nodded squeezing her hands back face flushing like always from her affections."Thank you, Faith. I'll just have to help out here however I can," Rena told her, "Do you have any clue where Lyn is or Jess?"

She bit her lip, "I-"

Before Faith could answer a response came from behind them, "Evelyn is with me, your other friends escaped before John could take them." Jacob stood there looking at both of them from the back door, Faith immediately let go of Rena’s hands and smiled softly at her brother. 

"Oh thank you," Rena told him stiffly glad she hadn't said anything else. Jacob sighed grunting in response as he looked at both of them. He checked the girls over before patting Faith's head and walking into the kitchen to help the others. Joseph beamed, his hands carrying a pitcher of sweet tea before placing it down on the table and patted the shoulder of Jacob. 

"Perfect timing. We just finished setting everything up."

“Smells good,” Jacob said patting his shoulder in return before walking in to say hello to John, giving him a bear hug from behind causing him to jump a bit in surprise. Joseph took Rena by the waist, pulling her to the table, packed with simple southern dishes consisting of collard greens along with green beans, mashed potatoes, dumplings, barbecued meats, and even fried chicken. 

Rena looked at the spread feeling her stomach start to rumble at the selection, letting herself be guided to the table, “This is such a good spread.” She said looking at it a bit wide-eyed unable to help herself. Her family had only ever really splurged on fast food meals, buckets of chicken from KFC with sides that were usually hogged by her Uncle. 

“Then eat a lot of it,” Jacob said shaking his head, “You’re like a toothpick, and John ordered way too much.” 

John frowned at him, “There’s nothing wrong with variety and leftovers.” 

"But don’t eat too much, we have apple pie and peach cobbler in the kitchen for later," Joseph said to her lightheartedly, pulling her chair out for her, taking the seat right next to her after at the head of the table. Faith's eyes lit up at the sound of peach cobbler and she eagerly sat down at the table. On Joseph's left and right across from Rena. She sat down slowly pushing herself forward in the chair watching as John and Jacob took their seats Jacob sitting farthest away from Rena across from Joseph, while John sat next to Faith. Rena waited for one of them to grab some food but when no one did she looked at them feeling a bit confused. 

After everyone was settled in their seats, Joseph turned to Lorena and smiled, "Would you like to say grace?" He asked, but his eyes made it clear there was no "no" answer.

“I-I don’t really know how to,” Rena said shrinking a bit, hoping to get through this dinner without being too much of a focus of attention. 

Joseph placed a hand on hers reassuringly. "It's easy. Just start by saying what you're thankful for. Speak from the heart." 

She sighed, “Um...God thank you for the food and the people who helped provide it?” She said it more like a question, before she added a confused sounding, “Amen.” Faith held back a small giggle, covering it with a cough. Joseph nodded to Rena, smiling kindly. 

"Not bad. We can work on it next time." Turning to the others before saying, "Let us dig in." Rena looked over at the food watching as Jacob immediately went for the barbeque loading up his plate with nothing but protein. John picked a few green beans before spooning dumplings and collard greens while he waited for Jacob to finish. Once her brothers got their share first, Faith immediately reached for the mashed potatoes, putting an insane amount on her plate and barely anything else. After pouring gravy over every white area, Faith shoveled the food in her mouth. Rena tried to reach to grab something from the center of the table, only managing to drag the dumplings a little closer to her at first. She cursed her height.

"Do you want me to make your plate for you, Lamb?" Joseph asked already taking and waiting for her to tell him what she wanted. 

Rena nodded meekly, “A little of everything if that’s okay?” She said wanting to try it all. When the dish was filled, He handed it back to back to her, settling down and watching contently as his family started to eat together. 

"Perhaps when your friend decides to become more placated she can join us one night," Joseph said, cutting into a piece of meat. Rena blinked at that stopping for a moment looking over at Jacob who didn’t seem to disagree with his younger brother. John let out a small hum at the thought of it giving Rena a small smile. 

“I...I don’t think she’d feel comfortable.” Rena told them honestly in small careful protest as she started to eat, “but it would be better than sitting in a cage.” 

Jacob spoke up, “She has her own room at my place, no need to worry about that.” He said bluntly before taking another bite of food, “getting plenty of exercises.” John’s smile faded at that comment but minded his business. 

“She’ll get used to it,” John decided to add, “Though she does still need to atone.” 

Joseph wiped his mouth with a napkin, “Speaking of atoning, I do not believe you finished walking the path with Faith.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “So, this Wednesday, since I will be busy with some things, you will be under her watch, finishing it up.” Faith looked up from her food, shifting her gaze from Joseph to Rena. The deputy blinked at that finishing her bite as she looked over at Joseph giving him a curious gaze, not saying anything, not wanting to ruin her chance to get both spaces from him and time with Faith. 

“I expect you to be on your best behavior. There will be consequences if I hear words otherwise.” Joseph stated, not clear on which one of them he was speaking to. He placed his fork down, “Should we get out dessert?”

“Sure, thank you,” Rena told him genuinely giving him a small smile not wanting to be ungrateful for the chance he was giving her. After the meal, Joseph took a moment discussing things with Jacob, John, and Faith about how things were looking in their regions and what the next steps should be. Eventually, he and Rena sat in the car, driving back home. 

Joseph placed his hand on her knee and quickly glanced at her, “How did you enjoy the meal?” 

“It was nice,” Rena said honestly only sightly stiffening up from the contact, “sort of like those TV shows, outside of the talk at the end.” 

“Back when my brothers and I were just children, Jacob would have to sometimes pick things from stores to keep us fed. When we found each other again and moved here... we made it an ongoing occurrence to eat big meals like this together, once a week.” Joseph paused, “I'm glad you were able to share this moment with me and my family.” Joseph said genuinely, keeping his eyes on the road. 

“I’m guessing you guys had shit parents too?” Rena asked leaning her head against the car window watching him curiously. Joseph grew quiet as if trying to recall something. 

"Our father was very religious and strict. We didn't really get the chance to learn about things that didn't follow The Book." He thought of the time Jacob would steal comic books for him to read-only to have it snatched away and punished for it. "That and because we moved from orphanage to orphanage a lot." Joseph pulled up the driveway and rotated to face her. Rena blinked at the new information. 

“Oh, were you ever separated from your siblings?” She asked him knowing how the foster care system was, especially in the southern regions. They were a threat her mother and Uncle liked to use whenever she had suggested she would run away.

"Yes. I think Jacob was 20, I was 16, and John was around 5 or 6 when we split up." Joseph tapped his fingers on the wheel. "Eventually, I was able to track them down." 

“I’m sorry,” Rena told him honestly, “That really sucks.” Some Days she would wonder what it would have been like if she had ever got taken from the state for some of the things her uncle did to her, where she would have gone if she had any more chances in doing other things. “At least you found them, still have them.” She said trying to remain positive, family always seemed to be very precious to other people.

Joseph smiled toward her and unbuckled his seatbelt, "Mm... Not only did I find Jacob and John, but I found Faith and you. You both are just as close to being family to me as my brothers." Joseph cupped Rena's cheek, leaning forward to kiss the top of her head before opening his door and exiting the car. Rena blinked at that not having expected him to  _ really _ consider her that so soon after everything. She watched him leave slowly before stepping out of the car herself and back with him into the cabin.


	17. The Proposal

Evelyn rocked impatiently on her mattress. Her hair was an oily mess and the clothes she had been wearing the day she was thrown in here, stunk rancidly. The tallies on the wall grew in numbers, there was no way it had only been 24 hours since she saw Jacob. She might not have had a window in her makeshift prison but she could still figure out the passage of time from her meals and the sounds of shuffling outside the door, she knew the change in feet meant a change in a shift on watch duty. She got up to pace eventually knocking hard on the door. 

"Asshole! You said a day! Let me have a shower at least." She shouted angrily, pounding onto the metal until her fists hurt. "I'll break your damn camera if you don't answer me." There was no answer for a while, though outside the door Evelyn could hear guards talking through a walkie as if trying to get him. A few moments later Jacob’s voice could be heard through the door. 

“Back up Pup, or you won’t get anything.” 

Evelyn stepped back, her arms crossed over her chest, watching him open the door. "How long has it been? I know for damn sure it wasn't a day."

“It’s been three days, we’ve been busy,” When she had moved he made his way in holding a bucket of water in his hands. “It's a bit makeshift but it’ll have to do.” He said before pulling out a towel and a bar of soap. Evelyn stared at the bucket for a long while, trying to figure out if he was joking. Which she figured was ridiculous seeing that the guy had usually always been serious. She sighed, assuming it was better than nothing. 

"Do I get a change of clothes?"

Jacob gave her a frown, “Those are still good.” He said scratching his beard.

"Coming from someone who looks like they have never heard of bathing." She replied sarcastically and breathed in deeply, "Lovely. I'll make sure to rate 5 stars when I check out." She folded her arms over her chest waiting for him to leave. 

“Hey, even a three-star review will be higher than we usually get,” Jacob told her snorting, “Take what you can get.” He told her placing the bucket down. “Any revelations since our last fight?” 

"Yes, actually. Aim for the throat next time." The deputy spat, as she reached for the towel and brought it to her nose to smell.

Jacob chuckled at that, “Good. Next time I won’t go as easy on you then.” 

Evelyn shook her head, "What use am I to you staying in this room, Jacob?" She asked, besides knowing that she wasn't able to wreak havoc on the outside or rescue Rena. Sitting in this room just seemed pointless if they weren't planning on killing her. 

Jacob placed the bar of soap in the bucket before looking at her, “You’re less use to anyone out there.” He told her, “And secondly John and Joseph want you to join the family. I’m just trying to see if that’s what you really want too.” 

She scoffed and looked at him bewildered. “No. What the hell makes you think there is a slight chance that I would want to join your family.” Evelyn thought of pretending she had a slight interest in joining them but was pretty positive he would be the first one to call out her bullshit. “After all the shit you and your family put me through, put others through? You expect me to act like everything is ok?” 

“No, I expect you to keep fighting until there’s nothing left,” Jacob told her honestly, “But that doesn’t change what John and Joseph want, it just helps keep you alive. You’re here for that and well, to see how far you are willing to go to try and escape,” Jacob added shaking his head, “I am not like my brothers, puppy dog eyes don’t work on me.” He told her referring to her actions with John and how Rena shrinks around Joseph.

“Well, begging is the last thing you’ll see me do, Seed.” Evelyn stood up straight and gave her best attempt at the confident and intimidating glare.

Jacob snorted at her before walking closer, “I know Baby Girl, I know, you’re much too fun to be boring like that.” Evelyn stepped back cautiously, letting out a low disapproving noise. 

“Well, chatting with you has been great, but if you don’t mind, I would like some privacy now,” Evelyn stated gesturing a hand towards the bucket, her face void from humor. “I got a nice, hot, and refreshing shower to take.”

“I’ll go get you a new shirt,” Jacob told her walking back to the door, “Knock again when you’re done. I’ll come back.” She waited until he left to take a moment and look at the water-filled bucket. Evelyn sighed and grabbed the sheet off the bed, attempting to hook it over the camera. When she managed to do that, she stripped herself of her clothing, took the soap out of the pail and began to scrub herself. She ran her hands over her scars, old and new. Her arm had healed up nicely but left jagged marks where the wound had been. Those wolves were horrifying, she heard that Jacob had been doing experiments on them, but what the hell did he inject them with to make them look like  _ that _ ? 

Evelyn tried her best to wash her hair after her body had been cleaned, first wetting her hair, then trying to use the soap to lather it between her dark strands. Afterward, she made sure she was a bit far from her mattress before dumping the water over her head in small intervals. Evelyn shivered, the coldness of the water stinging her skin. Grabbing for the towel she quickly dried herself off and threw back on her old shirt and pants, leaving off her sports bra and underwear when noticing the red rashes caused by the uncleanliness of them. With all that being done, she knocked on the door. Slowly Jacob opened the door stepping in holding another t-shirt and undergarments for her. 

“Can I get more water to wash these?” Evelyn asked garments in hand. 

"I'll get them clean, just put them in the bucket," Jacob told her leaning back he noticed her slight shiver, "Do you want a cup of coffee?"

“Oh- uh… sure?” Evelyn tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before taking the clothes out of his hands and discarding her underwear into the pail.

"Gotta keep you healthy for tomorrow," he said ominously before shutting the door. She furrowed her brow worriedly, quickly swapping into the fresh clothing. When Jacob came back in she was tucking her shirt, which had been slightly big on her, into her pants. He came back with two mugs in hand, "Gotta deal with me while you drink it. Can't have you shattering it for a weapon." Gingerly taking it out of his hands, she muttered her thanks and took a sip. It was bitter, far from similar to the sweet coffee John had given her, she liked it bitter though. 

“What’s tomorrow?” Evelyn finally asked, taking a seat down onto the mattress.

"We're gonna try another game." Jacob told her, "I'll give you a chance of freedom." He told her calmly taking a sip before squatting on the floor expecting her to do the same. Evelyn stoned, throwing him a skeptical glare. Placing her mug down onto the floor, she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. 

“Games are for children, Jacob. Stop fucking with me.” 

“No,” Jacob said simply before taking another deep sip of coffee. "What's your endgame here?" He asked her curiously, "Still think you can handle this all by yourself. Cause at this point that's basically what you are, she’s not coming back.”

“I can handle a lot. I see what you’re doing here and it’s going to take a lot more than this to get to me.” She retorted, “And as for my goal, that would be putting you and your family in jail or in the ground.” 

“Mhm,” Jacob hummed, “Hard to do that when you keep getting yourself kidnapped. Though I imagine it’ll be easier now that the mouse isn’t coming with you.”

Evelyn frowned, “Rena has done a lot to help out.” She shoved the empty mug back to him, “We’ll see tomorrow then with your game, won’t we.” Jacob took the mug not seeming to mind how bitter she was to him, there was an emotional detachment that always seemed to loom in his features. 

“I guess we will Pup,” He told her before leaving her in the room alone once again.

***

Rena laid in bed staring at the ceiling, unable to stay asleep for very long with him lying so close to her. Every time she felt herself turn and hit him accidentally it sent adrenaline pumping through her veins. It had only been a day or two after the family dinner and she felt herself starting to lose control of her will power and the situation. She looked over at the clock in the room seeing that it was 3:30 am. She closed her eyes and let out a light sigh, there was no point in going back. 

The deputy felt so useless having been caught and stuck here, unable to rescue Evelyn again or help out anyone in the resistance. To make matters worse to everyone in the compound she was slowly becoming the figure that Joseph wanted her to be. And if they didn’t like her they just gave her glares or whispered insults at her, making her drift closer to Joseph in fear of them deciding to throw anarchy and try and hurt her when he wasn’t looking. Though, both fortunately and unfortunately Joseph didn’t seem keen on letting her out of his sight anyway.

If she said anything about giving her freedom or asked him to give her space she would be threatening what little choice she had left. And though she hated to admit it, they were getting closer. It was hard to fight when most days he made her rely upon and follow him every damn where. If she could get the smallest bit more of leverage maybe she could do something but what?

She opened her eyes again looking over at Joseph as things slowly clicked together for her. There was only one thing she could use to bargain with him at this pace, and only a few things she could earn from giving it to him. Today was a Faith day, after sermon she’d be able to go to her and think more and plan this out with another ear to hear and help, but she needed to start it before if he was going to believe her. Slowly Lorena crept out of the bed doing her best not to disturb Joseph before pulling out her pants from under the mattress and grabbing one of the shorter dresses from the closet moving out of the room and into the hall before getting dressed and heading downstairs as stealthy as she could.

The first thing Joseph had thought when awakening to a loud thud was that someone had broken into their home. But when he turned to see that Rena had no longer laying right next to him, his mind wandered to the idea that she was trying to escape. Joseph tossed his blankets to the side and hurried out of bed. When he managed to rush downstairs, Rena hovered over the stove. The smell of spices were wafting from the kitchen as she poured what looked like chopped up spam into a pan with oil. She had her headphone’s in, lightly  [ singing ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYTmxRreAmw) to herself under her breath as she tossed the canned food around in the pan trying to get it to crisp and heat up so it would be edible. 

“ _ Turn up to Rihanna while the whole club fucking wasted,”  _ The counter beside her was coated in flour and there was a stack of what looked like homemade tortillas at the center of the table. “ _ Every time I drive by, I'm the only thing you're playin'.”  _ Joseph let his arms fall lazily to his sides as he stood there unsure what to think about the image before him. Part of Joseph wanted to chastise her for her vulgarity, but he was so tempted to laugh out loud, everything was so domesticated, so pure.

He stepped forward, "Lorena?" Joseph looked around, the kitchen was covered in a white powdery substance, but at least whatever she was cooking smelled good. When she didn't respond he stepped closer to her calling her again.

_ “In a drop top, doin' hundred, y'all in my rearview mirror racin, '”  _ Rena herself was in her green pants, one of the shorter  [ yellow dresses ](https://pin.it/jpuwofwflne6vq) being tucked into them so her arms were sleeveless and less of a fire hazard.“ _ Where y'all at? Where y'all at? Where y'all at?” _ Her cheeks had flour smeared on them, pants had several white handprints from when she patted herself down. Her hand moved to grab a few eggs and crack them into the mixture before reaching for the spices again humming the rest of the words to herself. Noticing she had headphones in he tried his best not to startle her, moving to the side of her and placing his hand on her back, all the while trying to peek at what she had been cooking. Rena blinked pulling her headphone out turning around to see him. 

“Oh, did I wake you?” Joseph gave her a curious smirk nodding before he tilted his head at the mix in front of her. 

"Little early to be cooking, Hm?" He reached up to dust off what everyone had been clinging to the top of her head. 

“I was going to surprise you, I wasn’t sure when you woke up, so I figured start early.” She explained giving him a sheepish smile. “Sit? I’m almost there.” He raised his brows at her, a bit confused before pulling out the chair and taking a seat. He hunched over, holding his hands in his lap. 

"What's the occasion?" 

“I...I just realize my situation, coming to terms with it,” Rena tried to explain as she transferred the contents of her skillet to the plate, “I wanted to officially make peace, but I wanted it to be a surprise, and we didn’t have any meat, and this is what I’m used to cooking anyway.” She tried to explain sheepishly over talking to fill any silence in the room gesturing to the can of SPAM and the eggs, then to the fresh tortillas on the table.

"Coming to terms?" Joseph questioned quietly, eyeing the food. He couldn't judge, apparently the mac and cheese he brought to the Ryes barbeque had been "watery,” he thought it tasted fine. But it filled him with joy, seeing her take the time to cook something for him. He watched her backside until she turned towards him. Rena nodded placing the plate down at the center of the table removing the wet cloth off the tortillas and using it to grab the coffee pot pouring them both mugs. 

“I-just promise to hear me out the whole way through?” She brought them over before sitting down at the table with him. Joseph took his cup holding it in his hands, waiting expectantly to continue. 

“Alright. Go on.” He said hesitantly.

“I-I am willing to be your wife if you agree to release my co-workers,” Rena told him while keeping eye contact with him. “I don’t expect you to leave Eveyln alone, and I understand that she’ll keep fighting. But Staci’s a shell of what he was, and I can only imagine how Joey’s doing probably tied up somewhere. They-they were the first family I’ve had in a long time. They are important to me. It hardly matters since I won’t get far anyway, but I promise to stop trying to run from this, and from you.” Rena said, staring back into his eyes, and it wasn’t a lie, there was no point in pretending she could get out if all it took to get her back were that damn song. “I’m willing to make this work, especially after the past few days but...I just can’t if I know they’re still hurting.” Joseph halted his move to take a sip of the coffee, looking at her surprised, not expecting that to come out of her mouth. He placed the mug down and leaned back in his chair, giving her an unreadable expression. Seeing that she had more to say, he kept his mouth shut and allowed her to keep talking. 

“I would also like to be able to sit on the balcony at night with you if necessary or get the chance to at least talk to Evelyn again. With time and trust maybe even find Peaches?” Rena told him before taking a sip of her own coffee slowly, “And more pants for around the house at least. I-I really hate showing my legs, Joseph.” 

Joseph inhaled deeply, staying silent for a long period of time before saying, “I can’t let them go, you understand that right? They would be a problem for the Project.” He rapped his fingers rhythmically on the table. “But, I can take them out of John and Jacob’s hands and place them somewhere on the compound. Guarded of course, but safe and unharmed.” 

Rena sighed watching his hands for a moment before mulling over his compromise, “As long as they are safe, then that should work.” She agreed in a soft voice, hoping that they’d feel the same.

“As for Evelyn, I will have to talk with Jacob about her progress. I did say I would allow her to dinner if she cooperated with us, otherwise, she’ll have to be blissed.” Joseph rubbed his bearded chin thoughtfully.

“I remember,” at the mention of her being blissed Rena shook her head, “No, that won’t be necessary. I don’t want to have to do that.” Getting to see Evelyn every now and again was a dangerous play anyway, if they got her when she managed to free herself again, it might not be a good idea anyway.

“And what is wrong with the long dresses? Do they not cover up enough?” Joseph shook his head, finally noticing that she was wearing pants. 

“I trip in them if I walk too fast,” Rena told him, flushing a bit she was a bit short compared to the other members of his family, “I just like pants.”

“We need to keep up your image in the compound, especially with the title of, Mother.” He looked off thoughtfully. “I will get you a few pants, but on certain occasions, I’ll request that you wear a dress. Later today I can ask John to see if he can get someone to tailor them so that you do not trip.” Joseph sighed remembering her other requests, “You can only be allowed on the balcony if I am home or a guard is sitting outside of it. I will think about the cougar request.”

"That's fair," Rena chose to say. At his agreement to the balcony and consideration of Peaches, she smiled at him taking his hand gently lifting it off the table. “Then with all that out of the way,” she hesitated for a moment wondering if what she was about to do was going too far, “Joseph Seed would you marry me?” Joseph froze and for a moment it seemed he would reprove her until he let out a buoyant laugh that developed into an out of character and unrestrained guffaw. With his free hand, he wiped away a single welling tear from the corner of his eye. Rena frowned at him unable to help herself. Here she was being nice giving him what he wanted, and he had the nerve to laugh at her. Once he regained composure he stared at her, amused. 

“You are full of so many surprises, do you know that?” He placed down his palm over her hand that still held his. “Here, I thought I would be the one to propose first.” 

"That's mean and _not_ an answer." She told him sighing shaking her head feeling her face grow red from embarrassment. Joseph leaned towards her, brushing his thumb over her cheek, a small glint in his eyes from seeing them so red. It looked like he was doing his best to hold back to savor her expression at the moment. 

“I am sorry. You caught me off guard.” He tilted his head as if thinking for a long moment, “Yes, Lorena. I would love to be your husband.” 

Rena let out a relieved sigh before giving him a small smile, "Cool." She said before letting his hand go, standing to kiss his forehead. 

“I’ll inform John and Jacob about the new arrangements, might take some time though,” Joseph remarked, humming peacefully when her lips pressed against his skin. “We will also have to get set up for them, so I hope you don’t mind.” 

"If it means they’re comfortable I-I don't mind," Rena told him feeling a bit nervous about how they'd take the transfer.

“And I suppose if you want, I will let you visit them so that you can make sure they are in the best of hands,” Joseph added, taking another sip of his hot beverage. Lorena blinked at that hesitating, not sure if she'd be able to take their reaction to the situation she was willing herself into. 

"Yeah, it would be nice." She grabbed a spoon and started to make a breakfast taco for him, "Now you get to actually eat." She said putting one on his plate before making another two for herself.

Joseph sat watching her keenly, “I can not wait to try your cooking, My Love. Maybe we can go take a trip and do some food shopping next week.” He suggested, mainly as an excuse to get her to cook for him, being rather excited to try out other things she could make.

Rena blinked at that, the idea of going beyond Hope County making her mind race with possible schemes, "Yeah, that would be nice." She told him before settling herself down as she took a sip of coffee. Joseph lifted the taco to his mouth and took a bite, although the meal was straightforward, he let out a satisfied hum, letting his  _ fiancée  _ know that he very much enjoyed it.

“After we finish eating, I’ll clean up here so that you can get ready for today.” Joseph picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. 

Rena smiled glad her poor man's cooking did enough, "Alright thank you," she looked around the kitchen, "Again I thought I'd have enough time to get it a tiny bit nicer here." She scratched her neck before taking another bite of food. Joseph only chuckled in response shaking his head at her.

***

No matter how much she kept running, the footsteps and barking were always right on her tail. Evelyn jumped over fallen trees, swam through rivers, climbed down mountains but still couldn’t manage to get the hell away from them. She panted heavily, the new shirt already shredded from getting snagged on branches. Exhausted, she slid behind a thick tree, her back pressed against the rough bark, hoping the men would pass her. When they did the deputy sighed, relieved, and ran a hand through her sweat coated hair. 

“ _ Taking a break huh?”  _ Jacob’s voice came in low on her radio, the one he gave her to taunt her with, “ _ I thought you would’ve had more energy stored up, after all, that rest I gave you Pup.”  _ She whipped her head around, searching for where he could be watching her from. When she couldn’t find him, Evelyn pushed herself off the tree and started moving again, trying her best to serpentine around the woods in an attempt to lose Jacob’s contact on her. She halted stumbling across a man walking alongside a judge, their back turned to her. She crouched creeping her way behind them. Once Evelyn grew closer, she snapped his neck, taking the pistol and with ease putting the wolf down before it had a chance to attack.

“ _ Two down, _ ” Jacob’s voice noted, “ _ About twenty more to go, but I could always send more _ .” There was a small rustle that sounded like it was coming from bush south-west of her. Evelyn grimaced, he was playing with her again. She quickly checked the bullets in her pistol and patted the guy down in case he had anything on him worthwhile, finding only a small dagger and a tin of mints, which she discarded to the side, sighing. As soon as she heard the leaves shake, she quickly turned to it, pointing her gun towards the shrubbery. Evelyn took slow steps forward, trying to peer over it. A rabbit jumped out of the bush frantically running away from her. 

" _ Boo." _ His voice came through the speakers before a guard tried to grab her from behind. Evelyn let out a distressed cry and struggled in the peggies grasp. She slammed down the heel of her foot onto his. When the man loosened his grip a little, she elbowed him in the ribs harshly and pulled out her dagger. For a moment they wrestled until She managed to bring the dagger to the man's throat. The guard sputtered falling limply against her. Evelyn groaned and pushed him off, panting. 

“ _ Keep moving or they’ll find you quick Kitten.”  _ Jacob told her, “ _ You’re close but you’ll have to deal with the snipers.”  _ Evelyn ran her fingers through her hair and started running again, every so often looking over her shoulder to see if she could catch a glimpse of where Jacob was. As much as she wanted to toss out the walkie, it was useful to tell if he still had eyes on her. The bastard was too cocky. She stopped at the mouth of a cave, slowly entering it. If she was lucky there might be another way out and if anyone decides to follow her, she might have the jump on them. 

“ _ W-h-e-ere di-di-”  _ The cave made the connection on the radio just sound static. “ _ C-c-come o-o-ut before-I find--”  _ There was a howl in the distance, signaling that the wolves had been sent out to find her. Evelyn picked up her speed, the echoing of her footsteps filling the once empty cave. Eventually, she stumbled upon three barrels of bliss. Thinking quickly she ripped off the bottom of her shirt and pressed it against a bleeding wound, something is given to her by a peggie at the beginning of the hunt. She tucked the piece behind one of the wooden crates near the barrels and hid a distance slightly ahead. Taking out her gun she waited, watching the wolves get closer to smell the area where she placed the cloth. When all the Judges closed in, Evelyn shot at the barrels, causing an explosion and the rocks above to collapse onto them. She sighed, now really hoping that this place had another way out. 

“ _ C-ll-ever”  _ crackled out the radio before more static sounds filled the air. There were wolf whines outside along with the heavy crunching of boots, quickly a few gunshots filled the air as the crushed Judges were put out of their misery. Evelyn took a moment to examine her surroundings. Only one way to go, she shivered, feeling a slight draft coming from the dark opening ahead of her. The exit, she assumed. She gripped the dagger in one hand, the gun in the other, prepared in case anything decided to jump and trudged ahead. 

Jacob walked alongside the cave rushing to where he knew there was an exit on the other side, “Bet you I can beat you to the other side Babygirl.” Jacob teased loudly so she could hear as he moved. When his words spoke loud enough for her to hear, Evelyn started sprinting, panting heavily as she desperately raced to the exit. She can't get caught again, she won't get caught. When she saw the light from the moon seeping in from the end, she sighed happily, but that relief left as soon as it came. Evelyn skidded to a stop. 

"J-Jacob." She stuttered out seeing that by the time she came out on the other side Jacob had been waiting for her.

“You want me to give you a 10-second headstart?” He asked her, not wanting the chase to be done yet. 

Evelyn pointed her gun at him hesitantly, "Or I can end you right now." She bluffed, knowing damn well she had used her last bullet on the barrels.

"The mouse isn't around," Jacob pointed outcrossing his arms, "If you had a bullet left you wouldn't have warned me." Evelyn stilled, parting her lips and lowered her gun slowly. He was right. She gripped the dagger, but when her eyes fell down to Jacob’s hip and onto his gun that stood out profoundly, colored the same candy red as his knife, made her hesitant on charging at him with it. On his back was a sniper rifle, just as red. Evelyn took a step back carefully.

"I'll give you twenty," Jacob told her grinning lifting the walkie to speak next, " _ 1….2...3...4… _ " Almost instantly she took off, zooming past him and going back through the woods. Sliding down a hill somewhat gracefully in the process, she groaned irritably, picking back up her speed. Hearing wolves to her left she turned the other way. " _ 18...19...20, ready or not Kitten here I come _ ." Jacob's voice warned, " _ Keep moving we can go all day if you play it right. _ "

Fuck if she'll let him continue this sick game. Not wanting to look back she kept her speed, occasionally making turns just in case. Far ahead, she noticed a group of Jacob's men stalled near a white truck. She counted 3 peggies and 2 chosen.

“ _ She should be close.”  _ Jacob’s voice warned them, he must have been switching between different channels. When Evelyn grew near, she could hear one of the peggies speak into their walkie. 

"No eyes on her here, yet." She crouched, creepy slowly and hiding behind a bush. Picking up a rock, she tossed it somewhat near her, catching the attention of one of the chosen who suspiciously went to check the noise. With ease, she jumped up behind him and snapped his neck. Patting him down. There was a gun on the first man, as well as a small bible and rosary, however, he didn’t have too many rounds, she’d have to make it count. The walkie next to him shouted, “ _ Report! Ah..”  _

With an SMG now in her hold she snuck up to the next one following the same routine until all were disposed of silently. She smirked finding the keys on one of the bodies and stood up. A growl taunted her from behind and Evelyn whipped around watching a judge prepare for its pounce. Before it had the chance, she shot it down, dropping the now emptied gun in the process. Evelyn cursed, that gunshot would surely alert everyone to her. She swung open the car door, throwing herself into the car and putting the keys into the ignition. 

"Come on. Come on." The car made a rebellious noise in response. "Please." 

“ _ Did you try jiggling the wheel?” _ Jacob’s voice teased from her own walkie. Evelyn looked over her shoulder and through the empty woods. She turned back to the wheel slamming her hands down onto it frustratedly, yelling out an angered cry. 

"Dammit!" There was no way she could escape this and he knew. 

“ _ I’m close _ ,” Jacob warned, “ _ Are you going to ditch it or keep moving Pup _ ?” The chase was clearly getting him excited, waiting in anticipation to see what she would do next. She jumped out of the car, taking a look at her surroundings before picking a direction she hadn't gone to yet. Everything looked the same, to be honest, and she hadn't found a single road yet. She had hoped that she could wave done someone from the resistance to help her, she paused and looked down at her walkie, unhooking it and keeping it in her hand ready just in case. 

" _ Ready or Not…" _ Jacob's voice teased lightly though there were no sounds of anyone stomping near her. Evelyn looked up at the sky, still dark. If she could take a guess it was probably around 4 AM and the sun wouldn't be up for another hour or two. She cursed and continued jogging. Eventually, she made it out to a lake, one that she remembered on her map being called Cedar lake. Hastily she toyed with the buttons, switching it over to the Resistance/Whitetail Militia channel. 

"This is Deputy Steele. If anyone is near Cedar Lake, I need assistance. Jacob and his men are on my trail." She hesitantly switched it back to Jacob's channel, wanting to keep tabs on him. Jacob found her again eye's narrowing as he saw her talking into the walkie without hearing it through the channel he had it set to. Slowly he stalked near her, getting ready to grab her from behind. She looked up, hoping they’d at least come by helicopter. The moment she turned around to check if anyone was growing near, Jacob had already been right behind her. Evelyn jumped, startled that he was able to keep so damn quiet and fumbled with her dagger, and charging to strike him.

Jacob easily knocked out of her hands before quickly he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder, "Hmph, nice try Babygirl, but we knew what was going to happen."

“NO!” she cried, struggling in his grip until feeling herself be easily lifted and tossed over him. “Fucking- let go of me.” She swung her fists tiredly at his back. When he didn’t give in, she grabbed for his belt, looping her fingers underneath and pulling it, trying to flip herself and throw him off balance

Jacob yanked her back and flipped her so she was facing the sky hand around her waist, "Don't make me use rope on you…"

“Bite me, asshole.” Evelyn groaned, the wound on her side aching and seeping through her shirt. She attempted to bend her knees and kick harshly back down. 

“I can if you  _ really _ want,” Jacob told her amused, dealing with the hits as they walked, knowing there’d be bruises later. When a ring ran out from his breast pocket, Evelyn watched as he pulled out his cell and flipped it open, turning on the speakerphone so that he could use both hands to keep her in place. 

“What is it?” Jacob grunted shifting Evelyn’s weight a bit as he stopped moving so he could focus.

_ “Jacob, I’m sending some people over to pick up Deputy Pratt and have him delivered to the compound. Can you have him prepared for me later today?” _ Evelyn stilled, curiously listening to Joseph speak clearly through his end.

"What? Why would we do that?" Jacob grunted back while trying to keep Evelyn still.

“ _ I agree to a small deal, for Lorena’s hand in marriage, _ ” Joseph said back bluntly. Evelyn's eyes widened bewilderedly, Lorena agreed to marry this psychopath? She let out a frustrated cry and leaned forward to try and catch his hand between her teeth. 

Jacob let out a strained sigh, “He was a good help, but fine. I’ll prep him.”

Joseph grew quiet for a second, processing the sounds of struggling to come from his end “ _ Oh _ ,  _ Are you busy? _ ” 

“Keeping Steele limber,” Jacob huffed placing the phone between his ear and shoulder as he shifted Evelyn into the bridal position, knowing she’d slip if she kept that up. “We just finished our exercise for the day. I’ll talk to you later.” Too tired and in pain to fight anymore, Evelyn sighed weakly, hoping if the Resistance did manage to find her now, they wouldn’t catch her in this position. She flustered at the thought, thinking of how the hell she’d explain that to Tammy and Eli. She crossed her arms and watched as their conversation came to an end. 

“ _ Talk to you later, Brother, _ ” Joseph responded before the phone clicked. 

“Looks like the mouse isn’t dead weight after all,” Jacob huffed as he hung up, bringing her over to his jeep, “Stay still if you want to stay conscious for the ride back.” He warned her shoving her into the front seat.

“Rena knows how to play her cards right, she’s not dumb,” Evelyn told him, although now worried about what the marriage would mean for her friend’s predicament. She winced, holding onto her side as the door closed behind her. She watched him swoop around and enter on the driver’s side.

"Hmmm I suppose if that's the case then Rabbit might be a better nickname for her," Jacob said looking her over knowing they'd need to patch her up as soon as they returned. 

“And it looks like you won’t have your personal pet to trim your beard for you anymore,” Evelyn taunted trying to make fun of him to deflect from how the new nickname for her partner disturbed her.

"You’re right, I'll need to find a new one," Jacob told her smiling grimly at her. Something about the way he said that made Evelyn's cocky smirk fade. She turned to look out the window, watching the passing trees and keeping her mouth shut for the rest of the drive.

  
  



	18. The Path

After moments of driving, they eventually passed a sign that said, ‘Welcome To Henbane River’. Joseph sat in the backseat beside  [ Rena ](https://pin.it/2q5s3tugugq72n) , his hand placed conspicuously on her thigh, he hummed, “Do you have any ideas for the wedding?” He looked out the window absorbed in thought, “I’m thinking of a small wedding, with select people. We might be able to push it up to next week if we plan smart.” 

Rena grew flustered trying to remain relaxed despite his growing affections. “Isn’t that really soon?” She asked, feeling a bit anxious. For some reason she had expected him to 

“No time to waste when things are nearing the end, hm?” Joseph retorted. “The collapse waits for no one.” She sighed looking him over as she thought about what she would want if this were a special occasion to her and not a prison sentence.

“Really small then I guess. I would like to pick what music plays, and maybe we could have pink roses and baby’s breath.” She stopped not sure what else was involved with weddings. “I’ve never been to one so I don’t know what else there is really to choose.” The car came to a stop, pulling up to Faith's bunker. Joseph unbuckled his seatbelt and nodded. 

“I can make arrangements. I already have a dress picked out for you, but that too might need to be tailored to fit you. I do not want you tripping down the aisle.” Joseph teased before opening his side of the door. 

“I’m not that short,” Lorena grumbled trying to ignore how creepy it was that he had a dress before they were even engaged. Faith stood near the entrance, one foot in front of the other and hands held together in front of her. When they approached her, she gave them both a faint smile. 

”Hello Father, and Lorena.” 

“Hi Faith,” Rena said, smiling brightly at her excited to get to spend the day with her.

“I will be back tonight for her. I expect everything to be done by 8.” Joseph leaned in and kissed the top of Rena’s noggin, ignoring the fact that his fiance squinted at the sign affection. “We will need to be up bright and early tomorrow to give us time to plan the wedding.” He hummed, casting a glance towards Faith, who’s calm demeanor started to falter slightly, before waving them off and heading back into the car. Rena gave him a small wave back before turning back to Faith rolling her eyes comedically at what had just happened.

Once the car drove off Faith turned to Lorena, “I knew Joseph intended on marrying you, but planning, already? Why so soon?” She fidgeted, playing with the hem of her dress.

“I asked him to, in exchange for Joey and Staci,” Rena told her sheepishly, “And pants and Peaches.”

“Rena, that’s-” Faith started.

“I can’t leave Faith,” Rena tried to explain, “Even if I did I’d be back here in no time with even less rights than I have now. Doing this, marrying him, it makes it easier to do something if I need to.” She ran a hand through her hair stressed but clearly trying to keep herself useful to the resistance. “There were bars on the window when I got back, this has been my first time away from him in days.” It was suffocating, not being able escape the long stares from Joseph, his voice or followers for even a millisecond. It was a move she made out of desperation to make him stop distrusting her so much. To make him complacent, to give her some sort of power back, no matter how small.

“So Joseph is just going to let them go? Doesn’t seem like a good plan on our end-” Faith crossed her arms over her chest.

Rena sighed, “They’re going to stop being tortured live in the compound.” Her anxiety flared up just thinking about it. “They’re going to be mad when they find out why.” 

“I think they would be happy that you helped either way.” Faith placed a hand on Rena’s arm to comfort her, unable to stand seeing her  _ friend _ stressed. “Besides, you’ll get to see them now right? That’s a plus.” 

"Yeah," Rena said nodding,"Thank you." She told Faith letting out a soft sigh, appreciating the fact that she was already helping to keep her sane. 

“Well we should start your journey through the pilgrimage. It’s going to be a bit long, but I’ll travel it with you. I'll keep you company.” Faith held out her hand for Rena to take. 

Rena took it without hesitation, “Then it should be a great trip.” She told Faith, giving her a small smile already feeling relaxed again by her side.

After an hour of chatting and prepping a bag of food, and putting sneakers on, they walked underneath an arch decorated with bliss flowers and a sign that read, ‘ _ Walk the Path _ ’ in red font. Reaching two cabins, filled with angels and peggies who turned their attention towards Rena, but upon seeing Faith they resumed what they were doing. 

“This is the start of The Path.” Faith said tilting her head towards a stone that laid beside a Project at Eden's Gate cross. “You have to find all of them. I can’t give it away though. That would be cheating.” She smiled playfully. 

Rena huffed, “Alright. Is this really going to take all day?” Rena asked her curious seeing a stone trail leading off into the distance, her eyes following it down. She couldn’t seem to find an end to the Bliss lined path. She looked over at the first plaque curiously. 

“It might, it really depends on how fast you walk.” Faith responded not wanting to overwhelm her with the amount of miles they were going to trek.

_ I.The Call _

_ “Joseph Seed hears the Voice. It calls on him to  _

_ become a leader to give hope to wayward souls.” _

“Is it all going to be about him?” Rena asked Faith, giving the herald a small disgruntled face. Faith gave Rena an apologetic smile.

“It’s about his prophecies and how everything came to be.” Faith twiddled her fingers looking down on the plaque. “Me, John, and Jacob are mentioned.” She inclined. 

“Great,” Rena grumbled before walking down the path swinging Faith’s arm a bit as they walked. “How have you been, outside of work and all this?” Faith practically skipped beside her, glad to have a willing party walking down the path for once.

“There really hasn’t been any time to do anything besides work. But, it keeps me busy, occupied.” Faith looked down at her sneakers for a moment. “OH! I saw the cutest little stray cat with huge golden eyes, a poofy tail, and dark-spotted fur. It reminded me of you. But then it ran away.” She puckered her lips pouting.

Rena blushed at that, "Oh it sounds like it was cute," she told her beaming as they walked past another groove of Bliss flowers, not noticing as it hit her. "Probably not as cute as you though." Rena teased before letting out a small giggle. Faith flushed slightly, not expecting her to continue to be so flirtatious after being captured again. 

"Ah so are you-" Faith whispered under her breath. 

***

_ II. The Cleansing _

_ Joseph Seed affirms his obedience to the Voice by _

_ cleansing himself with his own two hands, becoming born again. _

"What?" Rena looked down at the foreboding plaque trying to figure out what it meant by cleansing. "Why are these so cryptic?"

“Good job! You found the second one.” Faith cheered happily ignoring the question, knowing Joseph would be cross if she went into details without his permission.. “Only a little more over ten to go.” 

"More than ten?" Rena asked looking down the path feeling a bit frustrated, "No wonder no one wants to walk this, no one has the time." Rena joked. Faith shrugged, the comment going over her head. 

"Most people that Walk the Path aren't willing either." 

“Oh really?” Rena asked blinking, “This has been pretty easy so far, I’m surprised more people from the compound haven’t done this.” She said looking around. 

"Ah that's not what I- nevermind." Faith bit her tongue not wanting to tell her that most of the time people were forced to walk the path via Bliss, or at gunpoint by her priests. 

_ *** _

_ III. The Father _

_ Joseph Seed’s message reaches the ears of his first true followers. _

_ They soon begin to call him their Father because of his great wisdom and guidance. _

Part of Faith wanted to warn Rena that she should be careful where she walks, but the deputy had seemed so much more at ease now. And the fact that the Bliss did tend to make people more honest and open, so Faith couldn’t help but want to confirm if Rena wasn’t just trying to manipulate her into helping take down Joseph .

"Wisdom," an even more blissed Rena laughed, "That's funny, this is fun." Rena announced before looking at Faith and smiling even wider, "You're so fun and cute and precious." 

"You're too sweet to me, Rena." Faith leaned over and pecked her on the cheek. Rena let out a happy giggle at that before pecking her cheek back.

“You make me feel all warm and fuzzy.” Rena told her, unable to filter herself out, “You’re like sunshine, you help me a lot.” She swung her hand again before kissing it, “If it was you hunting me down I wouldn’t run.” Faith let out a light laugh, now amused watching her knowing her feelings were genuine made her want to tackle the Deputy here and now. 

"I don't think you'd get that far from me, considering your position right now." Faith tilted her head and gently tucked one of Rena's hair behind her ear. "But you could try."Rena leaned her forehead against Faith’s giving her a sultry look. 

“I’m fine where I’m at now,” she told her confidently, giving her a peck before walking again, never wanting to pressure her into something she was uncomfortable with. Faith smiled trailing behind her, they’d have plenty of time to get even closer as they walked. She wasn’t in any rush.

***

_ IV. The Revelation _

_ The Voice reveals the coming Collapse and the true purpose of  _

_ Joseph’s ministry: to save our souls from destruction and  _

_ guide them to Eden’s Gate. _

Rena’s face scrunched as she read it out loud before looking back at Faith, “Collapse shmallapse, he keeps saying it’s coming but we’re all still here and fine.” She grumbled, “Giving me two weeks till we’re married, it’s bull shit.” Faith tapped her chin thoughtfully, her brows furrowed. 

"It's not, we've all seen it. He showed us. I know it's coming." 

“Faith it is,” Rena told her though she probably wasn’t the best to argue this point right now.

The Herald halted her steps, "I don't want you to get married either but everything Joseph has prophesied so far has come true."

“He tells you to do stuff, claims he loves you and then yells at you if you mess up,” Rena told her frowning.

"He never yelled at me-" Faith sighed, seeing the concern on Lorena’s face, despite her being blissed. 

“Talks sternly then,” Rena said shaking her head, “That’s not love, you being nice to me helping me calm down. Giving me advice, that-that feels more like love. I-I’m not an expert either if I’m honest.” The deputy explained pouting slightly.

"Joseph knows what's best for everyone. His ways may seem a bit unorthodox now, but when the Collapse comes, you'll understand.” Faith squeezed Rena's hand tightly.

“I-I don’t like how upset you look when you're in trouble with him. It makes me so worried.” She frowned looking down at Faith’s hand.

Faith gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry- I will try and not make any more mistakes then.." Faith furrowed her brow, she knew the Father was testing her today, she let go of her hand and distanced herself a little bit away from Rena. 

"What, that's not what I meant," Rena chased after her immediately, "You shouldn't have to worry about mistakes like that. We should be able to do this without worrying about being caught. I want you to be able to choose what you want to do even if it isn't staying with me.

"Rena I do want to stay with you. But now that you're getting married.." Faith paused, "I knew that you were predestined to be with Joseph and I knew I shouldn't have…I shouldn't be doing  _ this,  _ but I really like you and" Faith rambled. "I'm breaking his trust."

“I’ll figure this out,” Rena told her cupping her face, “I promise to give you a chance where you have a choice. I-I just can’t think too good right now, you know?” Rena told her, giving her a small smile.

“Ok,” Faith nodded and forced a smile. “We should keep going. It’s getting dark.” 

***

_ V. The Family _

_ Joseph Seed collects his blood family--John, Jacob, and Faith. _

_ He anoints them as his Heralds so that they may _

_ help guide the growing family of believers. _

“So the church doesn’t know you're adopted?” Rena asked in a whisper looking down at the plaque and then back at her curiously. 

"Ah- no. It is best to keep it like that anyway. Better for my figure. Besides, it's basically like they're my real siblings anyway." Faith twiddled her fingers. 

“I guess so,” Rena said nodding in agreement taking Faith’s hand again, “Jacob seems to go soft on you, and John didn’t rat me out for giving you shoes.” Faith looked around nervously before casually slipping her hand away from Renas. 

"Oh yes. John and Jacob are really nice if you get to know them. They are just... rough around the edges. Jacob gives me advice from time to time, stuff to help keep my region in control when I need it." 

"Jacob scares me," Rena told her honestly with a small smile on her face, "He's really quiet too, I don't know how to talk to him."

"Just say what's on your mind, he doesn't like it when people beat around the bush. Oh, and if you like nature stuff and animals, he might talk to you about that if you ask." 

“Ohhh, I could try and tell him about Peaches,” Rena said thinking out loud.

***

_ VI. The Snakes _

_ Joseph Seed is forced to defend his family from _

_ traitors and the unbelievers they bring to Eden’s Gate.  _

“The ladies at the compound like calling me a snake,” Rena told Faith giggling, showing it didn’t bother her, “It’s funny, they think I want to be here. One of them called me a sinner right next to Joseph like an idiot,” She laughed again before frowning a dark look glazing over her eyes suddenly, “Then he kept her under too long during her baptism, that...that wasn’t fun.” 

"Ah- I'm sorry." Faith said, "Does it upset you when they say things like that to you?"

“No, I don’t think I belong here either,” Rena told her honestly, “I get more upset with his reaction to it. Y-you wouldn’t hurt anyone else for me would you?” Rena asked Faith as they continued their long stretch.

"That depends." Faith responded, giving her a small smile. "People have to do things they don't want to do sometimes."

Rena sighed, “You’re too nice for all of this.” She looked her over, “I wish we could just chill out together more.” 

Faith smiled softly at her. "Yeah me too."

***

_ VII. The Homecoming  _

_ The Voice guides the Father to bring his disciples to Hope, the place  _

_ destined to be our New Garden after the Collapse. _

“Oh...is that why you guys came to Hope County, just the name?” Rena asked looking down at it. “That makes a bit of sense.” 

Faith laughed, "I don't think so. Might have just been ironic." Faith looked down and read the stone as well, even though she knew each one by heart. "Glad we did though or else I wouldn't have met you." 

“I’m glad I met you too!” Lorena beamed before hugging her tightly. A party of priestesses walked past them on the path, they stopped to give their formal greetings to Faith when Rena rushed past her offering her hand to shake their’s, a warm smile on her face. “Hello! It’s a very nice day, my name is Lorena and-” The priestess recoiled, offensive insults forming on the tip of her tongue When her eyes flickered behind Rena her face paled and she hesitated.

"Hello.. yes..I know your name."

Faith smiled at the woman, "I was helping guide Lorena down the path. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Yes, that's wonderful." The woman gave them both a strained smile before nodding and saying, "Have a blessed evening." 

“You too!” Rena said smiling from her and looking back at Faith proud, “See!? I’m really friendly, I could like, run a super nice cult and we’d all just promise to be nice to each other and share good music. And if we ran into anyone else who was mean to us we’d just be really nice and freak them out and move on.” Rena continued to ramble on for a while before coming back to complimenting Faith, “And you’d be like I don’t know a fairy queen, and we’d get to spend however the time we’d want together and I’d actually have a shot with you instead of being in this madness.” 

Faith giggled uncontrollably, listening intently. "A fairy queen. I like that." Faith fidgeted, "You'd have more than a shot." She pointed up ahead, "There's the next one, we are almost done." 

_ VIII. The Message _

_ The Father and his Heralds begin to share their message  _

_ with the people of Hope, offering them salvation _

_ from the Collapse. _

“And kidnapping and drugging,” Rena said sighing looking at the plaque, “I don’t like how he calls you guys  _ his,  _ you all do like all of the work. He just talks.” 

Faith shrugged, "We are His Heralds and everyone else is His children." Faith stared down at the plaque. "He guides us. Leads." 

“You’re all more important than that,” Rena grumbled, “I-I wish I could show you.” 

  
  


***

_ IX.The Sacrament _

_ The Bliss is gifted to disciples who are too full of fear and doubt, _

_ elevating them to Angels who can better help prepare for the Collapse. _

At this point, Rena only glanced at the plaque, “Angels are scary.” Rena told Faith before pulling out her headphones placing a headphone in Faith’s ear before her own, she played a song. “We should have a picnic next time, you missed the last one. Oh! You could meet my friend Cass! “

"Who is Cass?" Faith asked curiously, leaning her head closer so that she could reach her ear, ignoring the comment on Angels. She didn’t want to explain the point or magic behind them and ruin their nice long walk.

“My friend from the project!” Rena told her, “They like talking about music, and they make jokes, and Cass didn’t know about the kidnapping stuff.” She said to her, “They were the first person to really be nice to me here after you.” 

Faith tilted her head and tapped her chin, “Cass… Cass… Oh! The new recruit. Yes, now I remember them. We took them in when they were on the run.” Faith told her vaguely. “I never got around to talking to them. I can’t wait!” 

"Oh, I hope they're safer here," Rena swung their arms and started to [ sing ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRzz0oqgUE) lightly along to it, stopping for a second tapping on her toes. With a small sway of her hips, she spun the both of them around before continuing their endless walk.

*** 

_ X. The Threshold  _

_ The Father prophecies that the coming of a White Horse is the signal  _

_ that the Collapse is near. Bringing along Death but with it Life, and The Mother. _

“Oh gross,” Rena could help but say as she read the plaque, “There I am.” Her face scrunched up before walking away from it.

"Yeah, he knew of your coming years beforehand." Faith stated, quickly trailing behind Rena. 

“How many more of these are left?” Rena asked her walking backward looking up at the sky, the sun was setting.

"Only three more to go. We are almost done." Faith responded, "You're doing really well. Usually, some people can take up to two to three days."

“Really?” Rena asked blinking, “That’s crazy, but I guess we haven’t stopped at all.” Faith nodded noticing how worn Lorena’s sneakers were looking, the Bliss must have been numbing her pain. 

***

_ XI.The Reaping  _

_ Chaos swallows the Garden as the First Seal is broken.  _

_ Hell incarnate, the heretics, and the Mother fight against the Family _

_ as we collect our final harvest of souls and material goods. _

“Damn straight!” Rena almost shouted, giggling having walked through another patch of flowers.

Faith grabbed her arm, now having to steer her in the right direction. "If you aren't careful you are going to fall silly." 

Rena giggled mimicking Faith placing a finger to her lips, “Go Heretics and hell incarnate!” She whispered loudly before imitating a roaring crowd. 

"Ah-" Faith looked around before shushing Rena. As cute as she was, people who were also Walking the path were beginning to stare. Rena simply made a face before giggling and continuing down the path, hand in hand with Faith.

***

_ XII. The Collapse  _

_ The Seals are opened and the fire cleanses the Earth. _

_ In the Gates, our Family waits. _

Rena was back to  [ singing ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA4iX5D9Z64) while trying to dance and walk with Faith ignoring the plaque on the ground as she clapped to the beat and tried to walk on rhythm.

"Rena-" Faith whined, although eager to join her dancing, followed behind her. "Don't forget to read them!"

“They all just say the same stuff,” Rena told her, shaking her head, “This is more fun, right? Come on it’s Taylor Swift your fave!” 

Faith pouted playfully, “How dare you to tempt me with Talyor. You know it’ll work.” Faith laughed and twirled behind Rena.

***

_ XIII. The Garden  _

_ After seven years, the Gates are opened to a changed world  _

_ the Father’s Chosen inherit our New Garden along  _

_ with new children, forged from the fires that created this new life. _

Rena sighed remembering the implications her name had, feeling it bring her out of her Bliss a little. There were still butterflies dancing around Faith’s head, but she seemed less talkative. “We did it,” She told Faith looking up at her as they walked up the steps. It took until nighttime for them to reach Joseph’s statue, well what had been left of Joseph's statue. It stood a mangled metal mess, an effigy of what it once had been. Over the speaker, Joseph preached his word, while the people down below worked on trying to rebuild the base of his monument. 

One man turned and nodded his head to Rena saying, “Praise to the Mother.” 

“You don’t have to say that when you see me,” Rena told him sighing as they walked away, “Just say hi instead please!” She told them hoping they’d spread it around. The man gave Faith a look but the Herald simply shook her head and motioned for him to continue cleaning.” 

“We will have to climb up to the top.” Faith pointed up to where the book part of the statue used to be. “But, this is the final and last step to Walking the Path.” 

“Um,” Rena blinked, “What do I do when I’m up there?” She asked her looking at the spot. 

"You have to jump. If you have Faith. The Father will protect you." Faith stated bluntly, taking her hand and leading her closer to the entrance.

“Ah,” Rena blinked, “I-I hope that just means you.” she followed her anyway, ignoring the tiny voice in the back of her mind as they walked up the steps to the wobbly platform.

Faith took her arm and helped her balance. “Both me and Him.” Faith responded nodding. “I’ll be with you all the way.” 

Once they reached the top, Faith slid her hand off of Rena’s arm allowing her to balance on her own. “Good thing you Blissed yourself, I know you wouldn’t like it if I asked you to do this when we got here. It's mandatory even for the Mother.” 

Rena looked down at the ground below them feeling herself sway before sitting at the edge, “It’s really far,” Rena told Faith looking up at her. “Are you sure?” Rena asked her unable to stop herself feeling a bit wide-eyed.

“I’ve done it too, don’t worry. I’ll be waiting at the bottom for you ok?.” Faith looked down at her and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, slowly slipping on a parachute. The canopy was already out of the pack so she wouldn’t have to pull the cord. 

Lorena took a deep breath in looking down again, “Um…” She stood up taking her i-pod out of her pocket, “Just in case, it’d be a shame to waste the music, you could listen to it.” Rena told her smiling. 

Faith blushed, knowing how important the device was to her. “Rena that’s so sweet, But you’re not going to die silly. Don’t say that.” Faith took the music player and put it in her hidden dress pocket. “I’ll keep it safe for you when you’re done.” Faith quickly kissed her cheek and took a step back. 

“O-Okay,” Lorena said shakily turning from her and walking slowly to the edge of the platform giving Faith the chance to start slipping down to the bottom. Rena waited a few more minutes and walked to the edge of the platform before taking a step off, unsure what she really had left to lose. The next thing she knew she was gliding slowly down to the bottom. Awaiting her at the bottom as she said was Faith. But besides her was Joseph, who raised his arms to her, took her hands, and gently helped her float down on the ground. 

Joseph spoke, his voice sounding distant. "You done well, My Love." Joseph smiled down at her, a blue butterfly landing perfectly on the top of his head distracting her as he unclipped her from the pack. "It's time to go home now."

"Ah," Rena flushed hands holding onto his hands, trying to process how it was possible still not feeling much with the bliss. "I just walked." She tried to tell him before staring at the butterfly on his forehead, letting out a giggle.

Joseph turned to Faith, placing his hand onto her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "You have done excellently. Keep it up." 

Faith smiled happily in return, "Thank you, Father." She turned to Rena and took her hand, placing a small square object into her hands. "I told you you weren't going to die." 

Rena smiled at Faith wide, "Yeah, thank you for keeping it." Rena told her, taking it back carefully. "Today was really fun, thank you," Rena told her before giving her a big hug forgetting the dangers of doing so in front of Joseph.

“You’re welcome-” Faith responded, her arms to her sides hesitantly. She looked over at Joseph, who gave her a nod and smile in response. Faith immediately squeezed Rena back before stepping away. “See you Sunday,” she said, somewhat sadly. 

Joseph calmly took Rena’s hand kissing the back of it before leading her into the back to the vehicle. He buckled her in carefully fully inspecting her as he settled in next to her letting out a soft sigh. 

“You will need plenty of rest, tomorrow love, your feet will be in agony once the bliss wears down.” He told her kissing her forehead before returning his hand to her thigh, exactly where it rested before. As soon as they closed the door, the car started moving. From the other side of the window, Faith waved her goodbye. 

"I miss her," Rena whined softly to herself not looking at Joseph as he continued to coo over her and the wedding. 

  
  
  



End file.
